Wick Burghs, sometimes known as Northern Burghs, was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 to 1918. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system.

A similar constituency had been known as Tain Burghs from 1708 to 1832.

Boundaries The constituency was a district of burghs representing the parliamentary burghs of Cromarty, Dingwall, Dornoch, Kirkwall, Tain and Wick.For the burghs included see Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 and 1885-1918. Apart from Cromarty, these burghs had been previously components of Tain Burghs.For the burghs included in Tain Burghs (and the pre-1832 franchise) see Namier and Brooke, The House of Commons, 1754-1790. In 1918 Dornoch and Wick were merged into Caithness and Sutherland, Kirkwall into Orkney and Shetland and Cromarty, Dingwall and Tain into Ross and Cromarty.For the boundary changes in 1918 see Craig, Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972.Representation of the People Act 1918, Ninth Schedule - Parliamentary Counties, Scotland The first election in Wick Burghs was in 1832. The franchise was extended to wider groups of the population than under the old system of burgh councillors electing a burgh commissioner to participate in the election. From 1832 the votes from each burgh were added together to establish the result.

Members of Parliament ElectionMemberParty1832constituency created 1832 James Loch Whig 1852 Samuel Laing Radical 1857 Lord John Hay Whig 1859 Samuel Laing Liberal 1860 by-election William Keppel, Viscount Bury Liberal 1865 Samuel Laing Liberal 1868 George Loch Liberal 1872 by-election John Pender Liberal 1885 John Macdonald Cameron Liberal 1892 Sir John Pender Liberal Unionist 1896 by-election Thomas Hedderwick Liberal 1900 Sir Arthur Bignold Liberal Unionist 1910 Robert Munro Liberal 1916 Coalition Liberal 1918 constituency abolished

Elections Elections in the 1830s

Elections in the 1840s

Elections in the 1850s

Elections in the 1860s Laing resigned after being appointed a member of the Council of India, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1870s Loch resigned, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1880s

Cameron was supported by the Highland Land League, and ally of the Crofter MPs.

Elections in the 1890s

Pender's resignation caused a by-election.

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1910s

See also List of former Parliamentary constituencies in the United Kingdom

Notes and references

Sources The House of Commons 1754-1790, by Sir Lewis Namier and John Brooke (HMSO 1964) British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885, compiled and edited by F. W. S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1997) Chronology of British Parliamentary By-elections 1833-1987, compiled and edited by F. W. S. Craig (Parliamentary Research Services 1987) British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1974) Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)

Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench, 1889 (for 1885 and 1886 results) Whitaker's Almanack, 1907 (for 1906 results)