Aberdeen Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)

Aberdeen Burghs was a district of burghs constituency which was represented from 1708 to 1800 in the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain, and from 1801 to 1832 in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Aberdeen Burghs
Former District of Burghs constituency for the House of Commons
Subdivisions of Scotland	Aberdeenshire, Kincardineshire, Forfarshire
Major settlements	Aberdeen, Inverbervie, Arbroath, Brechin, Montrose
1708–1832
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Aberdeen Montrose Burghs
Created from	Aberdeen, Arbroath, Brechin, Inverbervie, Montrose

Creation

The British parliamentary constituency was created in 1708 following the Acts of Union, 1707 and replaced the former Parliament of Scotland burgh constituencies of Aberdeen, Arbroath, Brechin, Inverbervie and Montrose.

Boundaries

The constituency consisted of the burgh of Aberdeen in the County of Aberdeen, the burgh of Inverbervie in the County of Kincardine, and the burghs of Arbroath, Brechin and Montrose in the County of Forfar.[1]

History

The constituency returned one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system until the seat was abolished for the 1832 general election.[2][3][4][5][6]

In 1832 the constituency was divided between the new constituencies of Aberdeen and Montrose Burghs. The Aberdeen constituency covered the burgh of Aberdeen, while Montrose Burghs covered the other burghs plus the burgh of Forfar, which was previously a component of the Perth Burghs constituency.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1708	John Gordon
	1710	James Scott
	1711	William Livingston
	1713	John Middleton	Whig
	February 1715	James Erskine	Tory
	July 1715	John Middleton	Whig
	April 1722	William Kerr
	October 1722	John Middleton	Whig
	1739	John Maule	Whig
	1748	Charles Maitland
	1751	David Scott
	1767	Sir John Lindsay
	1768	Thomas Lyon	Pro-Administration Whig
	1779	Adam Drummond
	1784	Sir David Carnegie, Bt	Whig
	1790	Alexander Callender
	1792	Alexander Allardyce
	Act of Union 1800	Parliament of Great Britain abolished, Parliament of the United Kingdom created
	1801	Alexander Allardyce
	1802 by-election	James Farquhar
	1806	John Ramsay
	1807	James Farquhar
	1818	Joseph Hume	Radical[7]
	1830	Sir James Carnegie, Bt	Tory[8]
	1831	Horatio Ross	Whig[9]
	1832	Constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1700s

1708 general election: Aberdeen Burghs[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	John Gordon
	Independent	James Scott
Rejected ballots
Majority
Turnout
Registered electors
	Independent win (new seat)

Elections in the 1710s

1710 general election: Aberdeen Burghs[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	James Scott	3	60
	Independent	William Livingston	2	40	N/A
	Independent	Thomas Coutts	0	0	N/A
Rejected ballots			0	0	N/A
Majority			2	20
Turnout			5
Registered electors
	Independent gain from Independent		Swing

1711 Aberdeen Burghs By-election: Aberdeen Burghs[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	William Livingston	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Independent gain from Independent

1713 general election: Aberdeen Burghs[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Middleton			N/A
	Tory	James Erskine			N/A
Rejected ballots					N/A
Majority
Turnout
Registered electors
	Whig gain from Independent		Swing

1715 general election: Aberdeen Burghs[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	James Erskine
	Whig	John Middleton
Rejected ballots
Majority
Turnout
Registered electors
	Tory gain from Whig		Swing

1715 Aberdeen Burghs By-election: Aberdeen Burghs[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Middleton	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Whig gain from Tory

Elections in the 1720s

1722 general election: Aberdeen Burghs[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	William Kerr			N/A
	Whig	John Middleton
Rejected ballots
Majority
Turnout
Registered electors
	Whig hold		Swing

1722 Aberdeen Burghs By-election[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Middleton	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Whig hold

1727 general election: Aberdeen Burghs[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Middleton	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1730s

1734 general election: Aberdeen Burghs[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Middleton	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Whig hold

1739 Aberdeen Burghs By-election[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Maule	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1740s

1741 general election: Aberdeen Burghs[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Maule			N/A
	Independent	Alexander Udny
Rejected ballots
Majority
Turnout
Registered electors
	Whig hold		Swing

1747 general election: Aberdeen Burghs[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Maule	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Whig hold

1748 British Aberdeen Burghs By-election[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Charles Maitland			N/A
	Independent	David Scott
Rejected ballots
Majority
Turnout
Registered electors
	Independent gain from Whig		Swing

Elections in the 1750s

1751 Aberdeen Burghs By-election[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	David Scott	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Independent gain from Independent

1754 general election: Aberdeen Burghs[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	David Scott	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Independent gain from Independent

Elections in the 1760s

1761 general election: Aberdeen Burghs[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	David Scott	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Independent gain from Independent

1762 Aberdeen Burghs By-election[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	John Lindsay	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Independent gain from Independent

1768 general election: Aberdeen Burghs[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Thomas Lyon	3	60	N/A
	Whig	William Maule	2	40	N/A
Rejected ballots
Majority			1	20
Turnout			5
Registered electors
	Independent gain from Independent		Swing

Elections in the 1770s

1774 general election: Aberdeen Burghs[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Thomas Lyon	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Independent gain from Independent

1779 Aberdeen Burghs By-election[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Adam Drummond	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Independent gain from Independent

Elections in the 1780s

1780 general election: Aberdeen Burghs[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Adam Drummond	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Independent hold

1784 general election: Aberdeen Burghs[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Sir David Carneige	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Whig gain from Independent

Elections in the 1790s

1790 general election: Aberdeen Burghs[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Alexander Callander	3	60	N/A
	Whig	Sir David Carneige	2	40	N/A
Rejected ballots
Majority			1	20
Turnout			5
Registered electors
	Independent gain from Whig		Swing

1792 Aberdeen Burghs By-election[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Alexander Allardyce	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Independent gain from Independent

1796 general election: Aberdeen Burghs[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Alexander Allardyce	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Independent hold

Elections in the 1800s

1802 Aberdeen Burghs By-election[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	James Farquhar	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Independent gain from Independent

1802 general election: Aberdeen Burghs[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	James Farquhar	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Independent hold

1806 general election: Aberdeen Burghs[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Ramsay (British Army officer)	3	60.0	New
	Independent	James Farquhar	2	40.0	N/A
Rejected ballots
Majority			1	20.0
Turnout			5
Registered electors
	Whig gain from Independent		Swing

1807 general election: Aberdeen Burghs[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	James Farquhar	3	60.0	+20.0
	Whig	John Ramsay (British Army officer)	2	40.0	-20.0
Rejected ballots
Majority			1	20.0
Turnout			5
Registered electors
	Independent gain from Whig		Swing

Elections in the 1810s

1812 general election: Aberdeen Burghs[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	James Farquhar	4	80	+20.0
	Whig	Thomas Molison	1	20	-20.0
Rejected ballots
Majority			3	60.0
Turnout			5
Registered electors
	Independent hold		Swing

1818 general election: Aberdeen Burghs[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Joseph Hume	3	75.0	New
	Independent	James Farquhar	1	25.0	-55.0
Rejected ballots
Majority			2	50.0
Turnout			4
Registered electors
	Radical gain from Independent		Swing

Elections in the 1820s

1820 general election: Aberdeen Burghs[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Joseph Hume	3	60.0	-15.0
	Independent	John Mitchell	2	40.0	N/A
Rejected ballots
Majority			1	20.0
Turnout			5
Registered electors
	Radical hold		Swing

1826 general election: Aberdeen Burghs[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Joseph Hume	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Radical hold

Elections in the 1830s

1830 general election: Aberdeen Burghs[6][8][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	James Carnegie	3	60.0	New
	Whig	Horatio Ross	2	40.0	New
Rejected ballots
Majority			1	20.0
Turnout			5
Registered electors
	Tory gain from Radical		Swing

1831 general election: Aberdeen Burghs[6][8][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Horatio Ross	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Whig gain from Tory

References

1. Union with Scotland Act, 1706, section XII
2. "Aberdeen Burghs". History of Parliament Online (1690–1715). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
3. "Aberdeen Burghs". History of Parliament Online (1715–1754). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
4. "Aberdeen Burghs". History of Parliament Online (1754–1790). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
5. "Aberdeen Burghs". History of Parliament Online (1790–1820). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
6. Fisher, David R. "Aberdeen Burghs". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
7. Fisher, David R. "HUME, Joseph (1777–1855), of 38 York Place, Portman Square and 6 Bryanston Square, Mdx. and Burnley Hall, Norf". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
8. Stooks Smith, Henry (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections: Containing the Uncontested Elections Since 1830. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. p. 195.
9. Fisher, David R. "ROSS, Horatio (1801–1886), of Rossie Castle, nr. Montrose, Forfar". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
10. Cook, Chris; Stevenson, John (1980). British Historical Facts 1760–1830. Basingstoke: Palgrave. p. 58. doi:10.1007/978-1-137-06465-3. ISBN 978-1-137-06465-3 – via Google Books.