Ayr Burghs was a district of burghs constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1800 and of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1950. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP), using the first-past-the-post voting system.
Creation The British parliamentary constituency was created in 1708 following the Acts of Union 1707 and replaced the former Parliament of Scotland burgh constituencies of Ayr, Campbeltown, Inveraray, Irvine and Rothesay.
Boundaries
The list of parliamentary burghs represented by the constituency changed in 1832 and again in 1918:
1708 to 1832: the Ayrshire burghs of Ayr and Irvine, the Argyllshire burghs of Campbeltown and Inveraray and the Buteshire burgh of Rothesay
1832 to 1918: the Ayrshire burghs of Ayr and Irvine and the Argyllshire burghs of Campbeltown, Inveraray and Oban 1918 to 1950: the Ayrshire burghs of Ardrossan, Ayr, Irvine, Prestwick, Saltcoats and Troon When the Ayr Burghs constituency was abolished in 1950, the Ayr and Prestwick burghs were merged into the county constituency of Ayr. Ardrossan and Saltcoats were merged into Bute and Northern Ayrshire and Irvine and Troon were merged into Central Ayrshire.
Members of Parliament
Election Member Party1708 Hon. James Campbell 1710 Charles Oliphant 1720 by-election Thomas Kennedy Tory1721 by-election Duncan Forbes Whig1722 William Steuart 1734 James Stuart 1741 The Earl of Granard 1747 Charles Erskine 1749 by-election Sir Henry Erskine 1754 James Stuart-Mackenzie 1761 Lord Frederick Campbell 1761 by-election Alexander Wedderburn 1768 James Stuart 1774 Sir George Macartney 1776 by-election Frederick Stuart 1780 Archibald Edmonstone Tory1790 Charles Stuart 1794 by-election John Campbell of Liston Hall 1807 John Campbell of Shawfield and Islay 1809 by-election Duncan Campbell Whig1818 Thomas Francis Kennedy Whig1834 by-election Lord Patrick Crichton-Stuart Whig1852 Edward Craufurd Radical1859 Liberal1874 Sir William Montgomery-Cuninghame Conservative1880 Richard Campbell Liberal1886 Liberal Unionist1888 by-election John Sinclair Liberal1890 by-election James Somervell Conservative1892 William Birkmyre Liberal1895 Charles Lindsay Orr-Ewing Conservative1904 by-election Joseph Dobbie Liberal1906 Sir George Younger Conservative1922 Sir John Baird Conservative1925 Thomas Moore Conservative 1950 constituency abolished
Sir Thomas was elected, in 1950, as the first MP for the then new constituency of Ayr
Elections
Elections in the 1830s
Kennedy was appointed as a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, requiring a by-election.
Kennedy resigned, causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1840s
Elections in the 1850s
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Elections in the 1860s
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Elections in the 1870s
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Elections in the 1880s
Campbell's death caused a by-election.
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Elections in the 1890s
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Elections in the 1900s
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Elections in the 1910s
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Elections in the 1920s
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Elections in the 1930s
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Elections in the 1940s
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See also List of former Parliamentary constituencies in the United Kingdom
References