William Crompton-Stansfield

In 1832, Crompton assumed the additional surname and arms of Stansfield on inheriting Esholt Hall, near Bradford, Yorkshire, and other estates from his mother.

In 1839, he built St Paul's Church as a private family chapel at the cost of £800 (since 1983 it has been used in the combined parish of Guiseley with Esholt).

The Committee discovered that "treating throughout the said Borough during the last Election was general, systematic, and extravagant in its character": between sixty and seventy public-houses (at least) had been opened by his agents, with refreshments provided apparently without limit and paid for without inquiry (with expenses incurred on that account alone amounting to upwards of £1,000).

With one exception, however, the only persons who were furnished with orders to provide refreshments were registered Electors, so it was not proved to the Committee that the bribery or treating were committed with Crompton-Stansfield's knowledge and consent.

Nevertheless, the Committee considered that a system of treating (like that which appears to have prevailed for some time in Huddersfield) must have had the effect of exercising an influence over the minds of voters "as corrupting and debasing as direct bribery".