Edinburgh
Former Burgh constituency
for the House of Commons
Major settlementsEdinburgh
1708–1885
Seats1708–1832: One
1832–1885: Two
Created fromEdinburgh
Replaced byEdinburgh Central
Edinburgh South
Edinburgh East
Edinburgh West

Edinburgh was a burgh 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 until 1885.

Creation

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

History

The constituency elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system until representation was increased to two members in 1832.[1][2][3][4][5] It was abolished in 1885, being split into Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh South, Edinburgh East and Edinburgh West.

Boundaries

The boundaries of the constituency, as set out in the Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1832, were-

"From a Point on the Road from Leith to Queensferry which is distant Four hundred Yards (measured along such Road) to the West of the Point at which the same meets the Inverleith Road at the House called Golden Acre, in a straight Line to the North-western Corner of the Enclosure of John Watsons Institution; thence in a straight Line to the Second Stone Bridge, marked No. 2, on the Union Canal; thence in a straight Line to the Point at which the Western Wall of the Enclosure of the Lunatic Asylum at Morningside meets the Jordan or Pow Burn; thence down the Jordan or Pow Burn to a Point which is distant One hundred and fifty Yards (measured along such Burn) below the Arch over the same on the Carlisle Road; thence in a straight Line to the Summit of Arthur's Seat, thence in a straight Line to the Point at which the Feeder enters the Western Side of Lochend Loch; thence in a straight Line to the Point at which Pilrig Street joins Leith Walk; thence along Pilrig Street and the Bonnington Road to the Point at which the latter meets the Road from Leith to Queensferry; thence along the Road from Leith to Queensferry to the Point first described."[6]

Members of Parliament

MPs 1708–1832

ElectionMemberParty
1708Sir Samuel McClellan
1709 by-electionSir Patrick Johnston
1713 Sir James Stewart Whig
1715Sir George Warrender
1721 by-electionJohn Campbell
1734Paul Lindsay
1741Archibald Stewart
1747James Ker
1754William Alexander
1761George Lind
1762 by-electionJames Coutts
1768 Sir Lawrence Dundas Whig
1780William Miller
1781 Sir Lawrence Dundas Whig
1781 by-electionJames Hunter Blair
1784 by-electionSir Adam Fergusson
1790 Henry Dundas Tory
1803 by-electionCharles Hope Tory
1805 by-election George Abercromby Whig
1806Sir Patrick Murray
1812 by-election William Dundas Tory[7]
1831 Robert Dundas Tory[7]

MPs 1832–1885

Under the Representation of the People Act 1832, Edinburgh's representation was increased to two members.

Election1st Member1st Party2nd Member2nd Party
1832 Francis Jeffrey Whig[7] James Abercromby, later Baron Dunfermline Whig[7]
1834 by-election Sir John Campbell, later Baron Campbell Whig[7]
1839 by-election Thomas Babington Macaulay, later Baron Macaulay Whig[7][8][9][10][11]
1841 Sir William Gibson-Craig Whig[7][12][13][8][9]
1847 Charles Cowan Radical[14][11][15][16]
1852 Thomas Babington Macaulay Whig[7][8][9][10][11]
1856 by-election Adam Black Whig[17][18]
1859 Liberal James Moncreiff, later Baron Moncreiff Liberal
1865 Duncan McLaren Liberal
1868 John Miller Liberal
1874 James Cowan Liberal
1880
January 1881 by-election John McLaren Liberal
August 1881 by-election Thomas Buchanan Liberal
1882 by-election Samuel Danks Waddy Liberal
1885 constituency divided: see Central, East, South and West divisions

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

By-election, 4 Nov 1882: Edinburgh[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Samuel Danks Waddy 8,455 52.3 −33.8
Independent Liberal James Hall Renton[20] 7,718 47.7 New
Majority 737 4.6 −23.9
Turnout 16,173 55.3 −5.9 (est)
Registered electors 29,252
Liberal hold Swing N/A
  • Caused by Cowan's resignation.
By-election, 24 Aug 1881: Edinburgh[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Thomas Buchanan Unopposed
Liberal hold
By-election, 28 Jan 1881: Edinburgh[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John McLaren 11,390 74.3 −11.8
Independent Liberal Edward Jenkins[21] 3,940 25.7 New
Majority 7,450 48.6 +20.1
Turnout 15,330 53.5 −7.7 (est)
Registered electors 28,644
Liberal hold Swing N/A
  • Caused by McLaren's resignation.
General election 1880: Edinburgh[22][23][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Duncan McLaren 17,807 43.7 +8.1
Liberal James Cowan 17,301 42.4 +15.2
Conservative John Macdonald 5,651 13.9 −3.9
Majority 11,650 28.5 +20.7
Turnout 17,458 (est) 61.2 (est) −15.0
Registered electors 28,524
Liberal hold Swing +5.0
Liberal hold Swing +8.6

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Edinburgh[22][23][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Duncan McLaren 11,431 35.6 N/A
Liberal James Cowan 8,749 27.2 N/A
Liberal John Miller 6,218 19.4 N/A
Conservative John Macdonald 5,713 17.8 New
Majority 2,531 7.8 N/A
Turnout 18,912 (est) 76.2 (est) N/A
Registered electors 24,832
Liberal hold
Liberal hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1868: Edinburgh [24][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Duncan McLaren Unopposed
Liberal John Miller Unopposed
Registered electors 20,779
Liberal hold
Liberal hold
General election 1865: Edinburgh[22][23][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Duncan McLaren 4,354 27.2 N/A
Liberal James Moncreiff 4,148 25.9 N/A
Liberal Adam Black 3,797 23.7 N/A
Liberal John Miller 3,723 23.2 N/A
Majority 351 2.2 N/A
Turnout 8,011 (est) 77.5 (est) N/A
Registered electors 10,343
Liberal hold
Liberal hold

Elections in the 1850s

By-election, 28 June 1859: Edinburgh[23][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal James Moncreiff Unopposed
Liberal hold
General election 1859: Edinburgh[23][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Adam Black Unopposed
Liberal James Moncreiff Unopposed
Registered electors 8,347
Liberal hold
Liberal hold
General election 1857: Edinburgh[23][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Adam Black Unopposed
Radical Charles Cowan Unopposed
Registered electors 8,297
Whig hold
Radical hold
By-election, 9 February 1856: February[23][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Adam Black 2,429 57.6 +30.4
Peelite Francis Brown Douglas[25][26][27] 1,786 42.4 +33.3
Majority 643 15.2 +13.5
Turnout 4,215 50.8 −4.4
Registered electors 8,297
Whig hold Swing −1.5
General election 1852: Edinburgh[23][28][29][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Thomas Babington Macaulay 1,872 27.2 +4.0
Radical Charles Cowan 1,754 25.5 −6.9
Radical Duncan McLaren[30] 1,559 22.7 N/A
Conservative Thomas Charles Bruce[31] 1,065 15.5 +0.1
Peelite Alexander Campbell Cameron[32][33][34] 625 9.1 New
Turnout 3,438 (est) 55.2 (est) +10.4
Registered electors 6,230
Majority 118 1.7 −12.0
Whig hold Swing +5.5
Majority 689 10.0 +6.7
Radical hold Swing −5.5

Elections in the 1840s

By-election, 15 December 1847: Edinburgh[23][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Radical Charles Cowan Unopposed
Radical hold
  • Caused by Cowan's election in 1847 being declared void, due to him being disqualified for holding a government contract at the time of the election
General election 1847: Edinburgh[23][35][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Radical Charles Cowan 2,063 32.4 New
Whig William Gibson-Craig 1,854 29.1 N/A
Whig Thomas Babington Macaulay 1,477 23.2 N/A
Conservative Peter Blackburn 980 15.4 New
Turnout 3,187 (est) 44.8 (est) N/A
Registered electors 7,114
Majority 209 3.3 N/A
Radical gain from Whig Swing N/A
Majority 874 13.7 N/A
Whig hold Swing N/A
By-election, 15 July 1846: Edinburgh[23][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Thomas Babington Macaulay 1,735 67.6 N/A
Whig Culling Eardley 832 32.4 N/A
Majority 903 35.2 N/A
Turnout 2,567 42.0 N/A
Registered electors 6,118
Whig hold Swing N/A
By-election, 13 July 1846: Edinburgh[23][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig William Gibson-Craig Unopposed
Whig hold
General election 1841: Edinburgh[23][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Thomas Babington Macaulay Unopposed
Whig William Gibson-Craig Unopposed
Registered electors 5,346
Whig hold
Whig gain from Speaker
By-election, 23 January 1840: Edinburgh[23][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Thomas Babington Macaulay Unopposed
Whig hold

Elections in the 1830s

By-election, 4 June 1839: Edinburgh[23][19][7]
Party Candidate Votes %
Whig Thomas Babington Macaulay Unopposed
Whig gain from Speaker
General election 1837: Edinburgh[23][19][7]
Party Candidate Votes %
Speaker James Abercromby Unopposed
Whig John Campbell Unopposed
Registered electors 9,640
Speaker gain from Whig
Whig hold
By-election, 30 April 1835: Edinburgh[23][19][7]
Party Candidate Votes %
Whig John Campbell Unopposed
Whig hold
  • Caused by Campbell's appointment as Attorney General for England and Wales
General election 1835: Edinburgh[23][36][37][19][7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig James Abercromby 2,963 32.4 −10.5
Whig John Campbell 2,858 31.3 −9.6
Conservative James Broun-Ramsay 1,716 18.8 +10.7
Conservative John Learmonth 1,608 17.6 +9.5
Majority 1,142 12.5 -12.2
Turnout 4,679 59.5 c. −18.2
Registered electors 7,862
Whig hold Swing −10.3
Whig hold Swing −9.9
By-election, 23 June 1834[23][19][7]
Party Candidate Votes %
Whig James Abercromby Unopposed
Whig hold
  • Caused by Abercromby's appointment as Master of the Mint
Edinburgh by-election, 2 June 1834[23][38][19][7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig John Campbell 1,932 50.7 −33.1
Tory John Learmonth 1,401 36.7 +20.5
Radical James Aytoun 480 12.6 New
Majority 531 14.0 −10.7
Turnout 3,813 58.6 c. −19.1
Registered electors 6,512
Whig hold Swing −26.8
  • Caused by Jeffrey's appointment as a Senator of the College of Justice, and his elevation to Lord Jeffrey
General election 1832: Edinburgh[23][39][19][7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Francis Jeffrey 4,035 42.9 +21.2
Whig James Abercromby 3,850 40.9 +19.2
Tory Forbes Blair 1,519 16.2 −41.4
Majority 2,331 24.7 N/A
Turnout c. 4,702 c. 77.7 c. −22.3
Registered electors 6,048
Whig gain from Tory Swing +21.0
Whig win (new seat)
  • The Radical candidate, James Aytoun, withdrew in favour of Jeffrey and Abercromby
General election 1831: Edinburgh[40][7][41]
Party Candidate Votes %
Tory Robert Dundas 17 51.5
Whig Francis Jeffrey 14 42.4
Tory William Allan 2 6.1
Majority 3 9.1
Turnout 33 100.0
Registered electors 33
Tory hold
General election 1830: Edinburgh[40][7][41]
Party Candidate Votes %
Tory William Dundas Unopposed
Registered electors 33
Tory hold

Elections in the 1820s

General election 1826: Edinburgh[40]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory William Dundas Unopposed N/A N/A
General election 1820: Edinburgh[40]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory William Dundas 25 89.3
Whig James Maitland 3 10.7
Majority 22 78.6
Turnout 28
Tory hold Swing

References

  1. ↑ "Edinburgh". History of Parliament Online (1690-1715). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  2. ↑ "Edinburgh". History of Parliament Online (1715-1754). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  3. ↑ "Edinburgh". History of Parliament Online (1754-1790). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  4. ↑ "Edinburgh". History of Parliament Online (1790-1820). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  5. ↑ "Edinburgh". History of Parliament Online (1820-1832). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  6. ↑ Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1832, Schedule (M).
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. p. 200. Retrieved 2 September 2018 – via Google Books.
  8. 1 2 3 "Evening Mail". 30 June 1841. pp. 3–4. Retrieved 2 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. 1 2 3 "Electoral Decisions". Northern Star and Leeds General Advertiser. 10 July 1841. p. 24. Retrieved 2 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. 1 2 Sharpe, Kevin (2000). Remapping Early Modern England: The Culture of Seventeenth-Century Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-521-66293-2. Retrieved 2 September 2018 – via Google Books.
  11. 1 2 3 Machin, Ian (26 May 2016) [2004]. "Cowan, Charles (1801–1889)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/47109. Retrieved 2 September 2018. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  12. ↑ Cookson, J. E. (April 2004). "The Edinburgh and Glasgow Duke of Wellington Statues: Early Nineteenth-Century Unionist Nationalism as a Tory Project". The Scottish Historical Review. 83 (215): 23–40. doi:10.3366/shr.2004.83.1.23. JSTOR 25529753.
  13. ↑ Churton, Edward (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer: 1838. p. 65. Retrieved 2 September 2018 – via Google Books.
  14. ↑ Coleman, James J. (2014). Remembering the Past in Nineteenth-Century Scotland: Commemoration, Nationality and Memory. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-7486-7690-3. Retrieved 2 September 2018 – via Google Books.
  15. ↑ Finnegan, Diarmid A. (2011). "Placing Science in an Age of Oratory: Spaces of Scientific Speech in Mid-Victorian Edinburgh". In Livingstone, David N.; Withers, Charles W. J. (eds.). Geographies of Nineteenth-Century Science. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-226-48726-7. LCCN 2010039367. Retrieved 2 September 2018 – via Google Books.
  16. ↑ "The General Election". Hereford Journal. 4 August 1847. p. 2. Retrieved 2 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  17. ↑ "Representation of Edinburgh". Brechin Advertiser. 5 February 1856. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 2 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  18. ↑ "Election Intelligence". Globe. 9 February 1856. p. 2. Retrieved 2 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 539–541. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
  20. ↑ "The Address to Mr J Hall Renton". Glasgow Herald. 11 February 1884. p. 9. Retrieved 19 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  21. ↑ "The Representation of Edinburgh". Liverpool Mercury. 26 January 1881. p. 6. Retrieved 19 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  22. 1 2 3 John Beveridge Mackie (1888). The Life and Work of Duncan McLaren. T. Nelsons and Sons – via archive.org.
  23. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 "Political Parties". A Vision of Britain Through Time.
  24. ↑ Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench, 1870
  25. ↑ "Caledonian Mercury". 7 February 1856. p. 4. Retrieved 2 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  26. ↑ "South Eastern Gazette". 5 February 1856. p. 2. Retrieved 2 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  27. ↑ "English and Scotch News". Dublin Evening Packet and Correspondent. 2 February 1856. p. 3. Retrieved 2 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  28. ↑ "The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay., Volume 4 (Of 4) by Thomas Babington Macaulay".
  29. ↑ "SCOTLAND. » 12 Jun 1852 » the Spectator Archive".
  30. ↑ "Election Intelligence". Exeter and Plymouth Gazette. 17 July 1852. p. 7. Retrieved 2 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  31. ↑ "To the Electors". Edinburgh Evening Courant. 10 July 1852. p. 1. Retrieved 2 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  32. ↑ "Edinburgh". Bell's Weekly Messenger. 17 July 1852. p. 1. Retrieved 2 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  33. ↑ "Staffordshire Advertiser". 17 July 1852. p. 7. Retrieved 2 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  34. ↑ "Nairnshire Mirror, and General Advertiser". 6 July 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 2 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  35. ↑ "General Election". The Spectator. 7 August 1847. p. 2.
  36. ↑ Book, Parliamentary Test (1835). "The Parliamentary test book for 1835".
  37. ↑ Report of the speeches delivered at the dinner given to Lord Ramsay & Mr. Learmonth in the Assembly Rooms, on Wednesday, February 11, 1835. Edinburgh: W. Cockburn. 1835. OCLC 315022192 – via worldcat.
  38. ↑ "Scotland". The Spectator. 7 June 1834.
  39. ↑ "The Arniston memoirs; three centuries of a Scottish house, 1571-1838". 1887.
  40. 1 2 3 4 Fisher, David R. "Edinburgh". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  41. 1 2 Cook, Chris; Stevenson, John (1980). British Historical Facts 1760-1830. Basingstoke: Palgrave. p. 58. doi:10.1007/978-1-137-06465-3. ISBN 978-1-137-06465-3. Retrieved 7 May 2020 – via Google Books.

See also

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