In 1715 the chief interests at Wenlock were in Sir William Forester, who had represented it 1679-81, and 1689-1715, and in his first cousin, the 2nd Earl of Bradford, the head of the Shropshire Whigs, whose brother held the second seat. These two families continued jointly to control the representation of the borough till the death of the 3rd Earl of Bradford in 1734, when that interest fell into abeyance, leaving the Foresters in control of both seats. The 2nd Lord Egmont noted in his electoral survey, c.1749-50, that Wenlock was ‘in Forester’.