Cromartyshire was a

county constituency In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called "constituenc ...

of the

House of Commons of Great Britain The House of Commons of Great Britain was the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain between 1707 and 1801. In 1707, as a result of the Acts of Union of that year, it replaced the House of Commons of England and the third estate of th ...

from 1708 until 1800, and of the

House of Commons of the United Kingdom The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 me ...

from 1801 to 1832.

The constituency

The British parliamentary constituency of

Cromartyshire Cromartyshire ( gd, Siorrachd Chromba) is a historic county in the Highlands of Scotland, comprising the medieval "old shire" around the county town of Cromarty and 22 enclaves and exclaves transferred from Ross-shire in the late 17th century. ...

was created in 1708 following the

Acts of Union, 1707 The Acts of Union ( gd, Achd an Aonaidh) were two Acts of Parliament: the Union with Scotland Act 1706 passed by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act 1707 passed by the Parliament of Scotland. They put into effect the te ...

and replaced the former

Parliament of Scotland The Parliament of Scotland ( sco, Pairlament o Scotland; gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba) was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland from the 13th century until 1707. The parliament evolved during the early 13th century from the king's council o ...

shire constituency of

. Cromartyshire was paired as an

alternating constituency As a result of the 1707 union of the Kingdom of Scotland with the Kingdom of England (including Wales) to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, within the newly formed Parliament of Great Britain, Scotland had 48 constituencies representing seats f ...

with neighbouring

Nairnshire The County of Nairn (also called Nairnshire) ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Narann) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. The county was used for local administration until the county council, based at the county t ...

. The

freehold Freehold may refer to: In real estate *Freehold (law), the tenure of property in fee simple *Customary freehold, a form of feudal tenure of land in England *Parson's freehold, where a Church of England rector or vicar of holds title to benefice p ...

ers of Cromartyshire elected one

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) to one Parliament, while those of Nairnshire elected a Member to the next.

Abolition

The

Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1832 The Scottish Reform Act 1832 was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the election laws of Scotland. The act was passed at approximately the same time as the Reform Act 1832, which applied to England and Wales. The chief ar ...

abolished the alternating constituencies. Cromartyshire was merged with

Ross-shire Ross-shire (; gd, Siorrachd Rois) is a historic county in the Scottish Highlands. The county borders Sutherland to the north and Inverness-shire to the south, as well as having a complex border with Cromartyshire – a county consisting of ...

to form the single constituency of

Ross and Cromarty Ross and Cromarty ( gd, Ros agus Cromba), sometimes referred to as Ross-shire and Cromartyshire, is a variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use, the latt ...

, both counties electing one Member between them to each Parliament.

Members of Parliament

References

{{Scottish Westminster constituencies (style 1) Historic parliamentary constituencies in Scotland (Westminster) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1708 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1832