pocket borough
pocket borough · pocket boroughs
A borough which could effectively be controlled by a single person who owned at least…A borough which could effectively be controlled by a single person who owned at least half of the burgage tenements (whose occupants had the right to vote in the borough's parliamentary elections), since he could populate these tenements with his own supporters.
Meaning
1 senses(historical)A borough which could effectively be controlled by a single person who owned at least half of the burgage tenements (whose occupants had the right to vote in the borough's parliamentary elections), since he could populate these tenements with his own supporters.
More definitions
- a sparsely populated borough in which all or most of the land is owned by a single family
Forms
plural: pocket boroughs| Singular | pocket borough |
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| Plural | pocket boroughs |
regular
Synonyms
1 synonymsWord family
1 related wordsRelatedrotten borough