Scottish representatives to the first Parliament of Great Britain

"Member for Scotland" redirects here; not to be confused with Duncan McLaren.

The Scottish representatives to the first Parliament of Great Britain, serving from 1 May 1707 to 26 May 1708, were not elected like their colleagues from England and Wales, but rather hand-picked.

The forty five men sent to London in 1707, to the House of Commons of the 1st Parliament of Great Britain, were co-opted from the Commissioners of the newly adjourned Parliament of Scotland (see List of Constituencies in the Parliament of Scotland at the time of the Union).

Legal background to the composition of the 1st Parliament

Under the Treaty of Union of the Two Kingdoms of England and Scotland it was provided:

"III. THAT the United Kingdom of Great Britain be Represented by one and the same Parliament to be stiled the Parliament of Great Britain.

...

XXII. THAT ... A Writ do issue ... Directed to the Privy Council of Scotland, Commanding them to Cause ... forty five Members to be elected to sit in the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain ... in such manner as by a subsequent Act of the present session of the Parliament of Scotland shall be settled ... And that ... the members of the House of Commons of the said Parliament of England and the forty five Members for Scotland ... shall be ... the first Parliament of Great Britain ..."

The Parliament of Scotland duly passed an Act settling the manner of electing the sixteen peers and forty five commoners to represent Scotland in the initial Parliament of Great Britain. A special provision for the 1st Parliament of Great Britain was "that the Sixteen Peers and Forty five Commissioners for Shires and Burghs shall be chosen by the Peers, Barrons and Burghs respectively in this present session of Parliament and out of the members thereof in the same manner that Committees of Parliament are usually now chosen shall be the members of the respective Houses of the said first Parliament of Great Britain for and on the part of Scotland ..."

The Kingdom of Great Britain came into existence on 1 May 1707.

Dates of the Parliament

Election: The members of the last House of Commons of England had been elected between 7 May 1705 and 6 June 1705. The last general election in pre-Union Scotland was in 1703.

First meeting and maximum legal term: Parliament first met on 23 October 1707. The Parliament was due to expire, if not sooner dissolved, at the end of the term of three years from the first meeting of the last Parliament of England, which would have been on 14 June 1708.

Dissolution: The 1st Parliament of Great Britain was dissolved on 3 April 1708.

Selection of Members from Scotland

Scotland was entitled to 45 Members in the new House of Commons. The Scottish legislation prescribed the constituencies from which the Members of the Commons from Scotland were in future to be elected. These constituencies were first used in the election of 1708 to the 2nd Parliament.

Of the 45 Members returned to the Parliament of Great Britain, 30 were Shire Commissioners and 15 were Burgh Commissioners.

Members of Parliament returned for Scotland (1707–1708)

NameBirthDeathFormer constituencyParty
Abercromby, AlexanderAlexander Abercromby16781729BanffshireCourt
Dalrymple, DavidThe Hon. Sir David Dalrymple, 1st Btc. 16651721CulrossCourt
Dalrymple, WilliamThe Hon. William Dalrymple16781744AyrshireCourt
KerrSir William Kerr, 3rd Bt 1716RoxburghshireSquadrone
MackenzieThe Hon. Sir Kenneth Mackenzie, 3rd Btc. 16581728CromartyshireCourt
Rose, HughHugh Rose16631732NairnshireCourt
Scott, JamesJames Scott16711732MontroseCourt
Maitland, The Hon. AlexanderThe Hon. Alexander Maitland 1721InverbervieCourt
Seton, WilliamWilliam Seton16731744AberdeenshireCourt (Squadrone?)
Allardice, Sir GeorgeSir George Allardice16721709KintoreCourt
Douglas, AlexanderSir Alexander Douglas 1718Orkney and ShetlandCourt
Moncrieff, PatrickPatrick Moncrieffc. 16741709KinghornCourt
Smollett, Sir JamesSir James Smollettc. 16481731DumbartonCourt
Baillie, GeorgeGeorge Baillie16641738LanarkshireSquadrone
Douglas, ArchibaldArchibald Douglasc. 16671741RoxburghshireCourt
Montgomerie, FrancisThe Hon. Francis Montgomerie by 1729AyrshireCourt
Stewart, The Hon. JohnThe Hon. John Stewartafter 16701748WigtownshireCourt
Bennet, WilliamWilliam Bennet 1729RoxburghshireCourt
Graham, MungoMungo Graham16701754PerthshireSquadrone
Montgomerie, HughHugh Montgomeriec. 16631735GlasgowCourt (Anti-Union)
Swinton, Sir JohnSir John Swintonbefore 16621723BerwickshireCourt
Bruce, JohnJohn Bruce 1711Kinross-shireSquadrone
Grant, AlexanderAlexander Grantafter 16731719Inverness-shireCourt
Morison, WilliamWilliam Morison16631739PeeblesshireCourt
Burnett, 3rd Bt, Sir ThomasSir Thomas Burnett, 3rd Btafter 16561714KincardineshireCourt
Haldane, JohnJohn Haldane16601721PerthshireSquadrone
Murray, JohnJohn Murrayc. 16671714SelkirkshireCourt
Campbell, DanielDaniel Campbellc. 16721753InverarayCourt
Halkett, 1st Bt, Sir PeterSir Peter Halkett, 1st Btc. 16601746DunfermlineSquadrone
Nisbet, WilliamWilliam Nisbetc. 16661724HaddingtonshireSquadrone
Campbell, JamesSir James Campbell, 5th Btc. 16791756ArgyllshireCourt
Halyburton, JamesJames Halyburton by 1755ForfarshireSquadrone
Ogilvy, The Hon. PatrickThe Hon. Patrick Ogilvy16651737CullenCourt
Campbell, JamesJames Campbellc. 16661752ArgyllshireCourt
Hume, The Hon. Sir AndrewThe Hon. Sir Andrew Hume16761730KirkcudbrightSquadrone
Pollock, 1st Bt, Sir RobertSir Robert Pollock, 1st Btc. 16651735RenfrewshireCourt
Campbell, JohnThe Hon. John Campbellc. 16601729ArgyllshireCourt
Johnstone, JohnSir John Johnstone, 1st Bt 1711DumfriesshireCourt
Pringle, JohnJohn Pringlec. 16741754SelkirkshireCourt
Clerk, JohnJohn Clerk16761755WhithornCourt
Johnstone, PatrickSir Patrick Johnstone 1736EdinburghCourt
Ramsay, 4th Bt, Sir DavidSir David Ramsay, 4th Btafter 16731710KincardineshireIndependent (Anti-Union)
Cockburn, JohnJohn Cockburnc. 16791758HaddingtonshireSquadrone
Erskine, 3rd Bt, Sir JohnSir John Erskine, 3rd Bt16721739BurntislandSquadrone
Erskine, JohnJohn Erskine16601733StirlingCourt

References