Renfrew was a royal burgh that returned one commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland and to the Convention of Estates.
After the Acts of Union 1707, Renfrew, Dumbarton, Glasgow and Rutherglen formed the Glasgow district of burghs, returning one member between them to the House of Commons of Great Britain.
List of burgh commissioners Renfrew was represented at meetings on 6 April 1478, 2 April 1481, 2 December 1482, 9 May 1485, 1 October 1487 and 6 October 1488, though the commissioners' names are unknown. 1579: John Spreull 1587: John Gilchrist of Sandford 1593: John Jackson 1612, 1617, 1621: William Somerville 1633, 1667: Robert Hall of Fulbar 1639–41, 1645–47, 1649: John Spreull 1640, 1644, 1661: Andrew Semple 1643, 1644: John Somerville 1645: James Lauder 1665 convention, 1678 convention: John Somerville of Townhead, provost 1667 convention, 1681, 1685–86: Robert Hall of Fulbar, provost 1669–74: Robert Pollock of Milburne 1689 (convention), 1689–95: William Cochrane of Kilmaronock 1698: Patrick Houston, provost (died c.1699) 1700–02: James Campbell of Burnbank and Boquhan 1702–07: Colin Campbell of WoodsideG. Harvey Johnston, The Heraldry of the Campbells, vol. II (1921) p. 30.
References Margaret D. Young ed., The Parliaments of Scotland: Burgh and Shire Commissioners, volume 2 (Edinburgh, 1993) p. 785.
See also List of constituencies in the Parliament of Scotland at the time of the Union