Did You know.............that a potwalloper (or potwaller) was a person who had their own separate fireplace on which they could cook, and as a result, qualified as an official resident of a town and sometimes, a voter? The word literally means “one who boils a pot” and these householders could include both owners and tenants. In the country, the right to vote was based on the ownership of land but in the boroughs, it depended on local custom. In some boroughs, all potwallopers had the vote whilst in others, the franchise was restricted to freemen. Potwallopers existed until the Reform Act of 1832
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