Ayrshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Ayrshire
Ayrshire
Former County constituency; for the House of Commons
Subdivisions of Scotland	Ayrshire
1708–1868
Seats	1
Created from	Ayrshire
Replaced by	North Ayrshire ; South Ayrshire.

Ayrshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1800 and of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 until 1868, when it was divided into North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire.

It elected one Member of Parliament (MP), using the first-past-the-post voting system.

Creation

The British parliamentary constituency was created in 1708 following the Acts of Union 1707 and replaced the former Parliament of Scotland shire constituency of Ayrshire.

Boundaries

The Ayrshire constituency represented the county of Ayrshire, minus the parliamentary burghs of Ayr and Irvine, which were components of the Ayr Burghs constituency.

History

The constituency elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system until it was divided into North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire for the 1868 general election.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

Members of Parliament

	Member	Party
1708	Francis Montgomerie
1710	John Montgomerie
1713
1715
1722
1727	James Campbell	Whig
1734
1741
1747	Patrick Craufurd
1754	James Mure-Campbell, later Earl of Loudoun
1761	Archibald Montgomerie, later Earl of Eglinton	Whig
1768	David Kennedy, later Earl of Cassillis
1774	Sir Adam Fergusson
1780	Hugh Montgomerie, later Earl of Eglinton
1781	Sir Adam Fergusson
1784	Hugh Montgomerie, later Earl of Eglinton
1789	William McDowall
1790	Sir Adam Fergusson
1796	Hugh Montgomerie, later Earl of Eglinton
1796	William Fullarton	Whig
1801
1802
1803	Sir Hew Dalrymple-Hamilton
1806	Sir Hew Dalrymple-Hamilton
1807	David Boyle
1811	Sir Hew Dalrymple-Hamilton
1812	Sir Hew Dalrymple-Hamilton
1818	James Montgomerie	Tory^[6]
1820
1826
1829	William Blair	Tory^[7]
1830
1831
1832	Richard Alexander Oswald	Whig^[7]
1835	John Dunlop	Radical^[8]^[9]
1837	John Dunlop	Radical^[8]^[9]
1839	Viscount Kelburn, later Earl of Glasgow	Conservative^[7]
1841	Viscount Kelburn, later Earl of Glasgow	Conservative^[7]
1843	Alexander Haldane Oswald	Conservative
1847	Alexander Haldane Oswald	Conservative
1852	James Hunter Blair	Conservative
1854	Sir James Fergusson	Conservative
1857	Lord Patrick Crichton-Stuart	Whig^[10]^[11]^[12]
1859	Lord Patrick Crichton-Stuart	Liberal
1859	Sir James Fergusson	Conservative
1865	Sir James Fergusson	Conservative

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Ayrshire^[7]^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Tory	William Blair (Ayrshire MP)	Unopposed
Registered electors			185
	Tory hold

General election 1831: Ayrshire^[7]^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	William Blair (Ayrshire MP)	73	67.0
	Whig	Richard Alexander Oswald	36	33.0
Majority			37	34.0
Turnout			109	58.9
Registered electors			185
	Tory hold

General election 1832: Ayrshire^[7]^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Richard Alexander Oswald	2,152	86.9	+53.9
	Tory	William Blair (Ayrshire MP)	324	13.1	−53.9
Majority			1,828	73.8	N/A
Turnout			2,476	78.6	+19.7
Registered electors			3,150
	Whig gain from Tory		Swing	+53.9

General election 1835: Ayrshire^[7]^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Whig	Richard Alexander Oswald	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,171
	Whig hold

Oswald's resignation caused a by-election.

By-election, 3 July 1835: Ayrshire^[7]^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Radical	John Dunlop	1,435	63.4
	Conservative	John Cathcart	829	36.6
Majority			606	26.8
Turnout			2,264	71.4
Registered electors			3,171
	Radical gain from Whig

General election 1837: Ayrshire^[7]^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Radical	John Dunlop	1,559	53.2
	Conservative	James Carr-Boyle	1,370	46.8
Majority			189	6.4
Turnout			2,929	73.5
Registered electors			3,985
	Radical gain from Whig

Dunlop's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 1 May 1839: Ayrshire^[7]^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Carr-Boyle	1,758	56.7	+9.9
	Whig	James Campbell	1,296	41.8	New
	Chartist	Hugh Craig^[15]	46	1.5	New
Majority			462	14.9	N/A
Turnout			3,100	73.1	−0.4
Registered electors			4,242
	Conservative gain from Radical

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Ayrshire^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	James Carr-Boyle	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,274
	Conservative gain from Radical

Carr-Boyle succeeded to the peerage, becoming 5th Earl of Glasgow and causing a by-election.

By-election, 3 August 1843: Ayrshire^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alexander Haldane Oswald	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1847: Ayrshire^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Alexander Haldane Oswald	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,305
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Ayrshire^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Hunter-Blair	1,301	52.0	*N/A*
	Peelite	Edward Cardwell^[16]	1,200	48.0	New
Majority			101	4.0	N/A
Turnout			2,501	65.4	N/A
Registered electors			3,823
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Blair's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 30 December 1854: Ayrshire^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Fergusson	1,510	52.2	+0.2
	Peelite	Alexander Haldane Oswald	1,381	47.8	−0.2
Majority			129	4.4	+0.4
Turnout			2,891	75.6	+10.2
Registered electors			3,823
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.2

General election 1857: Ayrshire^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Patrick Crichton-Stuart	1,663	53.3	*New*
	Conservative	James Fergusson	1,458	46.7	−5.3
Majority			205	6.6	N/A
Turnout			3,121	78.5	+13.1
Registered electors			3,976
	Whig gain from Conservative		Swing	+5.3

General election 1859: Ayrshire^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Patrick Crichton-Stuart	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,939
	Liberal hold

Crichton-Stuart's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 31 October 1859: Ayrshire^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Fergusson	1,687	50.7	*New*
	Liberal	James Campbell^[17]	1,641	49.3	N/A
Majority			46	1.4	N/A
Turnout			3,328	81.7	N/A
Registered electors			4,072
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Ayrshire^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	James Fergusson	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,642
	Conservative gain from Liberal

References

Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 3)

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