Kincardineshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Kincardineshire
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
Subdivisions of Scotland	Kincardineshire
1708–1918
Seats	One
Created from	Kincardineshire
Replaced by	Kincardine & Western Aberdeenshire

Kincardineshire was a constituency 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. It was represented by one Member of Parliament (MP).

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 Kincardineshire. The first election to a Parliament of Great Britain was in 1708. In 1707-08 members of the 1702-1707 Parliament of Scotland were co-opted to serve in the 1st Parliament of Great Britain. See Scottish representatives to the 1st Parliament of Great Britain, for further details.

Boundaries

The constituency represented the county of Kincardineshre., which had previously been represented by two commissioners in the former Parliament of Scotland. The constituency included the whole shire, except for the Royal burgh of Inverbervie which formed part of the Aberdeen Burghs constituency.

History

The constituency elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system until the seat was reorganised in 1918.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

In 1918, the constituency was combined with part of Western Aberdeenshire to form the Kincardine and Western Aberdeenshire constituency.

Members of Parliament

• Constituency created (1708)

Year		Member	Party
	1708	Sir David Ramsay, Bt
	1710	Sir Alexander Ramsay, Bt
	1713	James Scott
	1734	John Falconer
	1741	Sir James Carnegie, Bt
	1765	Sir Alexander Ramsay-Irvine, 6th Bt
	1768	Robert Hepburn
	1774	Lord Adam Gordon
	1788	Robert Barclay Allardice
	1797	Sir John Wishart-Belches
	1806	William Adam
	1812	George Harley Drummond
	1820	Sir Alexander Ramsay, Bt
	1826	Sir Hugh Arbuthnot	Tory[6]
	1834		Conservative[6]
	1865	James Dyce Nicol	Liberal
	1872	Sir George Balfour	Liberal
	1892	John William Crombie	Liberal
	1908	Arthur Murray	Liberal

• Constituency abolished (1918)

Elections

Decades:

1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Kincardineshire[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Hugh Arbuthnot	Unopposed
Registered electors			82
	Tory hold

General election 1831: Kincardineshire[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Hugh Arbuthnot	Unopposed
Registered electors			82
	Tory hold

General election 1832: Kincardineshire[6][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Hugh Arbuthnot	388	59.1
	Whig	Thomas Burnett	269	40.9
Majority			119	18.2
Turnout			657	86.1
Registered electors			763
	Tory hold

General election 1835: Kincardineshire[8][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Hugh Arbuthnot	Unopposed
Registered electors			844
	Conservative hold

General election 1837: Kincardineshire[8][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Hugh Arbuthnot	Unopposed
Registered electors			906
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Kincardineshire[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hugh Arbuthnot	Unopposed
Registered electors			914
	Conservative hold

General election 1847: Kincardineshire[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hugh Arbuthnot	Unopposed
Registered electors			808
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Kincardineshire[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hugh Arbuthnot	Unopposed
Registered electors			951
	Conservative hold

General election 1857: Kincardineshire[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hugh Arbuthnot	Unopposed
Registered electors			997
	Conservative hold

General election 1859: Kincardineshire[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hugh Arbuthnot	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,021
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Kincardineshire[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Dyce Nicol	490	63.0	New
	Conservative	Thomas Gladstone	288	37.0	N/A
Majority			202	26.0	N/A
Turnout			778	78.8	N/A
Registered electors			987
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

General election 1868: Kincardineshire[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Dyce Nicol	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,731
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1870s

Nicol's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 10 Dec 1872: Kincardineshire[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Balfour	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General election 1874: Kincardineshire[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Balfour	941	63.8	N/A
	Conservative	James Badenach Nicolson[9]	533	36.2	New
Majority			408	27.6	N/A
Turnout			1,474	83.4	N/A
Registered electors			1,767
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Kincardineshire[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Balfour	1,037	67.5	+3.7
	Conservative	David Sinclair[10]	500	32.5	−3.7
Majority			537	35.0	+7.4
Turnout			1,537	83.6	+0.2
Registered electors			1,838
	Liberal hold		Swing	+3.7

General election 1885: Kincardineshire[11][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Balfour	3,160	71.4	+3.9
	Conservative	David Scott Porteous	1,267	28.6	−3.9
Majority			1,893	42.8	+7.8
Turnout			4,427	79.3	−4.3
Registered electors			5,580
	Liberal hold		Swing	+3.9

General election 1886: Kincardineshire[11][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Balfour	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1890s

Crombie

General election 1892: Kincardineshire[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John William Crombie	2,444	64.0	N/A
	Kincardineshire Church Defence	Johnston Stephen[n 1]	1,376	36.0	New
Majority			1,068	28.0	N/A
Turnout			3,820	66.8	N/A
Registered electors			5,719
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1895: Kincardineshire[14][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John William Crombie	2,603	56.1	−7.9
	Conservative	Charles Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis	2,040	43.9	New
Majority			563	12.2	−15.8
Turnout			4,643	78.7	+11.9
Registered electors			5,897
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Kincardineshire[14][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John William Crombie	3,092	66.8	+10.7
	Conservative	James Mowat	1,536	33.2	−10.7
Majority			1,556	33.6	+21.4
Turnout			4,628	72.2	−6.5
Registered electors			6,410
	Liberal hold		Swing	+10.7

General election 1906: Kincardineshire[15][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John William Crombie	3,877	71.8	+5.0
	Conservative	Sydney Gammell	1,524	28.2	−5.0
Majority			2,353	43.6	+10.0
Turnout			5,401	76.4	+4.2
Registered electors			7,067
	Liberal hold		Swing	+5.0

Murray

1908 Kincardineshire by-election[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arthur Murray	3,661	65.1	−6.7
	Conservative	Sydney Gammell	1,963	34.9	+6.7
Majority			1,698	30.2	−13.4
Turnout			5,624	79.0	+2.6
Registered electors			7,119
	Liberal hold		Swing	−6.7

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Kincardineshire[16][17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arthur Murray	3,926	67.5	+2.4
	Conservative	Robert Pearson	1,891	32.5	−2.4
Majority			2,035	35.0	+4.8
Turnout			5,817	81.0	+2.0
	Liberal hold		Swing	+2.4

General election December 1910: Kincardineshire[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arthur Murray	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Liberal: Arthur Murray
• Unionist: Sidney Herbert

See also

• Former United Kingdom Parliament constituencies

Notes and references

Notes

1. Some sources describe Stephen as a Liberal Unionist

References

1. "Kincardineshire". History of Parliament Online (1690-1715). Retrieved 9 June 2019.
2. "Kincardineshire". History of Parliament Online (1715-1754). Retrieved 9 June 2019.
3. "Kincardineshire". History of Parliament Online (1754-1790). Retrieved 9 June 2019.
4. "Kincardineshire". History of Parliament Online (1790-1820). Retrieved 9 June 2019.
5. "Kincardineshire". History of Parliament Online (1820-1832). Retrieved 9 June 2019.
6. Stooks Smith, Henry (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections: Containing the Uncontested Elections Since 1830. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. p. 205. Retrieved 8 May 2020 – via Google Books.
7. Fisher, David R. "Kincardineshire". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
8. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
9. "Election for the County of Kincardine". Aberdeen Press and Journal. 4 February 1874. p. 1. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
10. "Representation of Kincardine-shire". Aberdeen Free Press. 27 March 1880. p. 5. Retrieved 3 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
11. Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench, 1889
12. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
13. Whitaker's Almanack 1893
14. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
15. Whitaker's Almanack 1907
16. The Times House of Commons 1910; Politico's Publishing 2004 p100
17. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916
18. The Times House of Commons, 1911; Politico's Publishing 2004, p110

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "K" (part 2)