William Beauchamp Proctor (1722-1773), 1st Baronet, became MP for Middlesex in 1747, and held the post for nearly twenty years, but was defeated at the general election in 1768 by John Wilkes. He stood again at a by-election in December 1768, and was opposed by John Glynne, Wilkes’s lawyer, who had the support of John Horne Tooke. On the first day of polling, a mob stormed the polling booth at Brentford, and one man was killed. There were rumours that Wilkes had paid a former prize-fighter, Broughton, to lead the rioters. Glynn won the poll and Beauchamp Proctor, who had reputedly spent £10,000 on the election, did not attempt to stand for parliament again.