Buteshire and Caithness (UK Parliament constituencies)

Caithness
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
1708 (1708)–1918 (1918)
Replaced by Caithness and Sutherland
Buteshire
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
1708 (1708)–1918 (1918)
Replaced by Bute and Northern Ayrshire

Buteshire and Caithness were county constituencies of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918.

From 1708 to 1832 they were paired as alternating constituencies: one of the constituencies elected a Member of Parliament (MP) to one parliament, the other to the next. The areas which were covered by the two constituencies are quite remote from each other, Caithness in the northeast of Scotland and Buteshire in the southwest.

From 1832 to 1918, they were separate constituencies, each represented by its own MP.

Contents

Boundaries

From 1708 to 1832, the Buteshire constituency covered the county of Bute minus the parliamentary burgh of Rothesay, which was a component of the Ayr Burghs constituency, and the Caithness constituency covered the county of Caithness minus the parliamentary burgh of Wick, which was a component of the Tain Burghs constituency.

When Buteshire and Caithness became separate constituencies, in 1832, Rothesay was merged into the Buteshire constituency. Wick retained its status as a parliamentary burgh and became a component of the Wick Burghs constituency.

By 1892, Bute and Caithness had become a local government counties and, throughout Scotland, under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, county boundaries had been redefined for all purposes except parliamentary representation. 26 years were to elapse before constituency boundaries were redrawn, by the Representation of the People Act 1918, to take account of new local government boundaries.

In 1918, the Bute and Northern Ayrshire and Caithness and Sutherland county constituencies were created.

The Bute and Northern Ayrshire constituency was created to cover the county of Bute and a northern portion of the county of Ayr. The rest of the county of Ayr was divided between three other constituencies, all entirely within the county: the county constituencies of South Ayrshire and Kilmarnock, and a remodelled Ayr Burghs.

The Caithness and Sutherland constituency was created to cover the county of Caithness and the county of Sutherland. The Wick Burghs constituency was abolished and two of its former components, Wick and Dornoch, were merged into the new Caithness and Sutherland constituency.

Members of Parliament

Buteshire and Caithness MPs 1708 to 1832

Buteshire MPs 1832 to 1918

Election Member Party
1832 Charles Stuart Conservative
1833 Sir William Rae Conservative
1842 James Archibald Stuart-Wortley Conservative
1857 Liberal
1859 David Mure Conservative
1865 George Boyle Conservative
1865 James Lamont Liberal
1868 Charles Dalrymple Conservative
1880 Thomas Russell Liberal
1880 Charles Dalrymple Conservative
1885 James Robertson Conservative
1891 Andrew Murray Conservative
1905 Norman Lamont Liberal
1910 Sir Harry Hope Conservative
1918 constituency abolished

Election results

General Election Dec 1910: Buteshire[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Harry Hope 1,569
Liberal Edward Rosslyn Mitchell 1,316
General Election Jan 1910: Buteshire[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Harry Hope 1,531
Liberal Norman Lamont 1,372
General Election 1906: Buteshire [2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Norman Lamont 1,637 51.9
Conservative G. Speir 1,517 48.1
General Election 1900: Buteshire [3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Andrew Graham Murray QC 1,241
Liberal Norman Lamont 1,046
General Election 1895: Buteshire [3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Andrew Graham Murray QC unopposed
General Election 1892: Buteshire [4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Andrew Graham Murray QC 1,466
Liberal Robert Earle M Smith 1,013

After James Robertson accepted office as Solicitor General for Scotland in July 1886, he was returned unopposed at a by-election on 12 August.[5]

General Election 1886: Buteshire [5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Robertson 1,364
Liberal Rev Nigel MacNeill 819
General Election 1885: Buteshire [5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Robertson 1,374
Liberal Robert A Maclean 1090
General Election 1868: Buteshire [6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Dalrymple 527
___ Burns 362

Caithness MPs 1832 to 1918

Election Member Party
1832 George Sinclair
1841 George Traill
1869 Sir John Sinclair, Bt Liberal
1885 Gavin Brown Clark Crofters' Party
1900 Leicester Harmsworth Liberal
1918 constituency abolished

Election results

General Election Dec 1910: Caithness-shire[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Robert Leicester Harmsworth 2,718
Conservative Archibald McLeod 87
General Election Jan 1910: Caithness-shire[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Robert Leicester Harmsworth 2,643
Liberal Unionist Laurence Hugh Strain 590
General Election 1906: Caithness-shire [2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Robert Leicester Harmsworth 2,686
Conservative Sir Keith Alexander Fraser Bt 483
General Election 1900: Caithness-shire [3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Robert Leicester Harmsworth 1,189
Conservative D.P. Henderson 1,161
Liberal Dr Gavin Brown Clark 673
Liberal F.C. Auld 141
General Election 1895: Caithness-shire [3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Dr Gavin Brown Clark 1,828
Liberal Unionist John Cowper 528
General Election 1892: Caithness-shire [4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Dr Gavin Brown Clark 2,134
Liberal Unionist Sir William James Bell 4693
General Election 1886: Caithness-shire [5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Gavin Brown Clark MD 2,034
Liberal Unionist Robert Niven 584
General Election 1885: Caithness-shire [5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Gavin Brown Clark MD 2,110
Liberal Clarence Granville Sinclair 1,218
By-election August 1869: Caithness-shire [6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Sir John Sinclair 432
Mr Traill[7] 360
General Election 1868: Caithness-shire [6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
George Traill 512
Major Horne 275

References

  1. ^ a b c d Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916
  2. ^ a b Whitaker's Almanack, 1907
  3. ^ a b c d Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
  4. ^ a b Whitaker's Almanack, 1893
  5. ^ a b c d e Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1889
  6. ^ a b c Debrett's House of Commons, 1870
  7. ^ Nephew of a former member

Sources