Tain Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)
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Tain Burghs, was a constituency of the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...
from 1801 to 1832, sometimes known as Northern Burghs. It was represented by 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 o ...
(MP).


Creation

The British parliamentary constituency was created in 1708 following the Acts of Union, 1707 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 ...
burgh constituencies of Tain,
Dingwall Dingwall ( sco, Dingwal, gd, Inbhir Pheofharain ) is a town and a royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It has a population of 5,491. It was an east-coast harbour that now lies inland. Dingwall Castle was once the biggest cas ...
, Dornoch,
Kirkwall Kirkwall ( sco, Kirkwaa, gd, Bàgh na h-Eaglaise, nrn, Kirkavå) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. The name Kirkwall comes from the Norse name (''Church Bay''), which later changed to ''Kirkv ...
and
Wick Wick most often refers to: * Capillary action ("wicking") ** Candle wick, the cord used in a candle or oil lamp ** Solder wick, a copper-braided wire used to desolder electronic contacts Wick or WICK may also refer to: Places and placename ...
which had all been separately represented with one commissioner each in 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 ...
. In 1707-08, members of the 1702-1707
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 ...
were co-opted to serve in the first Parliament of Great Britain. See
Scottish representatives to the 1st Parliament of Great Britain 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 t ...
, for further details.


Boundaries

The constituency was a
district of burghs The Act of Union 1707 and pre-Union Scottish legislation provided for 14 Members of Parliament (MPs) from Scotland to be elected from districts of burghs. All the parliamentary burghs (burghs represented in the pre-Union Parliament of Scotland) ...
representing the
Royal burghs A royal burgh () was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished by law in 1975, the term is still used by many former royal burghs. Most royal burghs were either created by ...
of
Dingwall Dingwall ( sco, Dingwal, gd, Inbhir Pheofharain ) is a town and a royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It has a population of 5,491. It was an east-coast harbour that now lies inland. Dingwall Castle was once the biggest cas ...
, Dornoch,
Kirkwall Kirkwall ( sco, Kirkwaa, gd, Bàgh na h-Eaglaise, nrn, Kirkavå) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. The name Kirkwall comes from the Norse name (''Church Bay''), which later changed to ''Kirkv ...
, Tain and
Wick Wick most often refers to: * Capillary action ("wicking") ** Candle wick, the cord used in a candle or oil lamp ** Solder wick, a copper-braided wire used to desolder electronic contacts Wick or WICK may also refer to: Places and placename ...
. In 1832 the constituency was replaced by Wick Burghs and
Cromarty Cromarty (; gd, Cromba, ) is a town, civil parish and former royal burgh in Ross and Cromarty, in the Highland area of Scotland. Situated at the tip of the Black Isle on the southern shore of the mouth of Cromarty Firth, it is seaward from ...
was added to the district.


History

The constituency elected one
Member of Parliament (MP) 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 often ...
by the
first past the post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...
system until the seat was abolished for the 1832 general election. The first Member of Parliament (MP), for the five Burghs, was elected at Tain in 1708. Lord Strathnaver was the eldest son of a Scottish peer. He would not have been eligible to be elected to the Parliament of Scotland. It was disputed that Strathnaver was eligible to be elected to the Parliament of Great Britain, as the representative of a Scottish seat. On 3 December 1708, the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
decided the issue, as at that time the House judged the eligibility of its members itself rather than leaving the issue to be decided by a Judge. After the House called in counsel, the election petitions and representations in writing were read out and the lawyers put forward arguments for their clients. After counsel had withdrawn a question was formulated and put to a vote. The proposition the House voted on was "that the eldest sons of the Peers of Scotland were capable by the Laws of Scotland at the time of the Union, to elect or be elected as Commissioners for the Shire or Boroughs ic,_see_Burghs.html"_;"title="Burgh.html"_;"title="ic,_see_Burgh">ic,_see_Burghs">Burgh.html"_;"title="ic,_see_Burgh">ic,_see_Burghsto_the_Parliament_of_Scotland;_and_therefore_by_the_Treaty_of_Union,_1707.html" "title="Burgh">ic,_see_Burghs.html" ;"title="Burgh.html" ;"title="ic, see Burgh">ic, see Burghs">Burgh.html" ;"title="ic, see Burgh">ic, see Burghsto the Parliament of Scotland; and therefore by the Treaty of Union, 1707">Treaty of Union The Treaty of Union is the name usually now given to the treaty which led to the creation of the new state of Great Britain, stating that the Kingdom of England (which already included Wales) and the Kingdom of Scotland were to be "United i ...
are capable to elect, or be elected to represent any Shire or Borough [sic] in Scotland, to sit in the House of Commons of Great Britain". The House rejected the motion and so declared that Lord Strathnaver was ineligible to be elected an MP for Tain Burghs. The most prominent English political figure, to represent a Scottish constituency in the 18th century, was
Charles James Fox Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled ''The Honourable'' from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was the arch-riv ...
. In the 1784 general election, Fox sought re-election for the
Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...
constituency. Political opponents challenged Fox's election. As Westminster had the largest electorate of any English borough, the scrutiny of votes (to check that each voter had been legally qualified to participate in the election) was thought likely to take a long time. To avoid Fox being out of Parliament, until the Westminster election petition was decided, a Scottish friend arranged for him to become member for Tain Burghs. It took until 1786 for Fox to be confirmed as a duly elected MP for Westminster. Fox then chose to represent his English constituency and the Scottish one became vacant.''House of Commons 1754-1790''


Members of Parliament


Elections

The electoral system for this constituency gave each of the five burghs one vote, with an additional casting vote (to break ties) for the burgh where the election was held. The place of election rotated amongst the burghs in successive Parliaments. The vote of a burgh was exercised by a burgh commissioner, who was elected by the burgh
councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...
s. The primary source for the results was Stooks Smith with additional information from the History of Parliament series. For details of the books used, see the Reference section below. The reference to some candidates as Non Partisan does not, necessarily, mean that they did not have a party allegiance. It means that the sources consulted did not specify a party allegiance.


Elections of the 1700s

* ''1708 (3 December): Strathnaver declared ineligible as the eldest son of a Peer of Scotland''


Elections of the 1710s


Elections of the 1720s


Elections of the 1730s


Elections of the 1740s

* ''Election declared void''


Elections of the 1750s


Elections of the 1760s


Elections of the 1770s

* ''1773 (February): Resignation of Mackay''


Elections of the 1780s

* ''1786 (March): Fox chose to represent
Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...
, where he had been declared duly elected in the 1784 general election, after an election petition and a prolonged scrutiny of votes'' * ''1786 (7 April): Ross died''


Elections of the 1790s

* ''November 1797: Dundas appointed a Commissioner for the Affairs of India''


Elections of the 1800s

* ''July 1804: Villiers appointed Chief Prothonotary Common Pleas of the County Palatine of Lancaster'' * ''1805: Villiers resigned'' * ''Mackenzie resigned to stand for Sutherland''


Elections of the 1810s


Elections of the 1820s


Elections of the 1830s

* ''Constituency expanded and re-named in the 1832 redistribution''


See also


Notes


References

* ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1977) * ''History of Parliament: House of Commons 1754-1790'', by Sir
Lewis Namier Sir Lewis Bernstein Namier (; 27 June 1888 – 19 August 1960) was a British historian of Polish-Jewish background. His best-known works were ''The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III'' (1929), ''England in the Age of the Ameri ...
and
James Brooke Sir James Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak (29 April 1803 – 11 June 1868), was a British soldier and adventurer who founded the Raj of Sarawak in Borneo. He ruled as the first White Rajah of Sarawak from 1841 until his death in 1868. Brooke was b ...
(Sidgwick & Jackson 1964) * ''The Parliaments of England'' by Henry Stooks Smith (first edition published in three volumes 1844-50), second edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tain Burghs (Uk Parliament Constituency) 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 Politics of the county of Caithness Politics of Orkney Politics of the county of Ross Politics of the county of Sutherland