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) were assigned to a district, except for Edinburgh which had an MP to itself. The burghs in a district were not necessarily adjacent or even close together.

Until 1832 the Council of each burgh in a district elected a commissioner, who had one vote for the MP. The commissioner from the Returning Burgh (which function rotated amongst the burghs in successive elections) had an additional casting vote if the numbers were equal.

In 1832 the composition of the districts were amended, and the boundaries of a burgh for parliamentary purposes ceased to be necessarily those of the burgh for other purposes. The franchise was extended, and votes from all the burghs were added together.

There were further changes to the number and the composition of the districts in 1868, 1885 and 1918.

The district of burghs system was eventually discontinued in 1950, but the term Burghs continued in use in the names of some constituencies until 1974.^[1]

The idea of parliamentary burghs continues to this day, in the form of burgh constituencies, which are distinct from county constituencies. This distinction is significant in terms of the expenses allowed to election candidates.

List of districts and burghs

Period	District	Burgh	County
1708–1832	Aberdeen Burghs	Aberdeen	Aberdeenshire
1708–1832		Arbroath	Forfarshire
1708–1832		Inverbervie	Kincardineshire
1708–1832		Brechin	Forfarshire
1708–1832		Montrose	Forfarshire
1708–1832	Anstruther Easter Burghs	Anstruther Easter	Fife
1708–1832		Anstruther Wester	Fife
1708–1832		Crail	Fife
1708–1832		Kilrenny	Fife
1708–1832		Pittenweem	Fife
1708–1950	Ayr Burghs	Ayr	Ayrshire
1708–1918		Campbeltown	Argyllshire
1708–1918		Inverary	Argyllshire
1708–1950		Irvine	Ayrshire
1708–1832		Rothesay	Buteshire
1832–1918		Oban	Argyllshire
1918–1950		Ardrossan	Ayrshire
1918–1950		Prestwick	Ayrshire
1918–1950		Saltcoats	Ayrshire
1918–1950		Troon	Ayrshire
1918–1950	Dumbarton Burghs	Dumbarton	Dunbartonshire
1918–1950		Clydebank	Dunbartonshire
1708–1918	Dumfries Burghs	Dumfries	Dumfriesshire
1708–1918		Annan	Dumfriesshire
1708–1918		Kirkcudbright	Kirkcudbrightshire
1708–1918		Lochmaben	Dumfriesshire
1708–1918		Sanquhar	Dumfriesshire
1918–1950	Dunfermline Burghs	Dunfermline	Fife
1918–1950		Cowdenbeath	Fife
1918–1950		Inverkeithing	Fife
1918–1950		Lochgelly	Fife
1708–1832	Dysart Burghs	Dysart	Fife
1708–1832		Burntisland	Fife
1708–1832		Kinghorn	Fife
1708–1832		Kirkcaldy	Fife
1708–1918	Elgin Burghs	Elgin	Elginshire
1708–1918		Banff	Banffshire
1708–1918		Cullen	Banffshire
1708–1918		Inverurie	Aberdeenshire
1708–1918		Kintore	Aberdeenshire
1832–1918		Peterhead	Aberdeenshire
1832–1918	Falkirk Burghs	Falkirk	Stirlingshire
1832–1918		Airdrie	Lanarkshire
1832–1918		Hamilton	Lanarkshire
1832–1918		Lanark	Lanarkshire
1832–1918		Linlithgow	Linlithgowshire
1708–1832	Glasgow Burghs	Glasgow	Lanarkshire
1708–1832		Dumbarton	Dunbartonshire
1708–1832		Renfrew	Renfrewshire
1708–1832		Rutherglen	Lanarkshire
1708–1885	Haddington Burghs	Haddington	Haddingtonshire
1708–1885		Dunbar	Haddingtonshire
1708–1885		Jedburgh	Roxburghshire
1708–1885		Lauder	Berwickshire
1708–1885		North Berwick	Haddingtonshire
1868–1918	Hawick Burghs	Hawick	Roxburghshire
1868–1918		Galashiels	Selkirkshire
1868–1918		Selkirk	Selkirkshire
1708–1918	Inverness Burghs	Inverness	Inverness-shire
1708–1918		Forres	Elginshire
1708–1918		Fortrose	Ross-shire
1708–1918		Nairn	Nairnshire
1832–1918	Kilmarnock Burghs	Kilmarnock	Ayrshire
1832–1918		Dumbarton	Dunbartonshire
1832–1918		Port Glasgow	Renfrewshire
1832–1918		Renfrew	Renfrewshire
1832–1918		Rutherglen	Lanarkshire
1832–1950	Kirkcaldy Burghs	Kirkcaldy	Fife
1832–1950		Burntisland	Fife
1832–1950		Dysart	Fife
1832–1950		Kinghorn	Fife
1918–1950		Buckhaven	Fife
1918–1950		Methil and Innerleven	Fife
1832–1918	Leith Burghs	Leith	Edinburghshire
1832–1918		Musselburgh	Edinburghshire
1832–1918		Portobello	Edinburghshire
1708–1832	Linlithgow Burghs	Linlithgow	Linlithgowshire
1708–1832		Lanark	Lanarkshire
1708–1832		Peebles	Peeblesshire
1708–1832		Selkirk	Selkirkshire
1832–1950	Montrose Burghs	Montrose	Forfarshire
1832–1950		Arbroath	Forfarshire
1832–1950		Brechin	Forfarshire
1832–1950		Forfar	Forfarshire
1832–1950		Inverbervie	Aberdeenshire
1708–1832	Perth Burghs	Perth	Perthshire
1708–1832		Cupar	Fife
1708–1832		Dundee	Forfarshire
1708–1832		Forfar	Forfarshire
1708–1832		St Andrews	Fife
1832–1918	St Andrews Burghs	St Andrews	Fife
1832–1918		Anstruther Easter	Fife
1832–1918		Anstruther Wester	Fife
1832–1918		Crail	Fife
1832–1918		Cupar	Fife
1832–1918		Kilrenny	Fife
1832–1918		Pittenweem	Fife
1918–1950	Stirling and Falkirk Burghs	Stirling	Stirlingshire
1918–1950		Falkirk	Stirlingshire
1918–1950		Grangemouth	Stirlingshire
1708–1918	Stirling Burghs	Stirling	Stirlingshire
1708–1918		Culross	Perthshire
1708–1918		Dunfermline	Fife
1708–1918		Inverkeithing	Fife
1708–1832		Queensferry	Linlithgowshire
1832–1918		South Queensferry	Linlithgowshire
1708–1832	Tain Burghs	Tain	Ross-shire
1708–1832		Dingwall	Ross-shire
1708–1832		Dornoch	Sutherland
1708–1832		Kirkwall	Orkney
1708–1832		Wick	Caithness
1832–1918	Wick Burghs	Wick	Caithness
1832–1918		Cromarty	Cromartyshire
1832–1918		Dingwall	Ross-shire
1832–1918		Dornoch	Sutherland
1832–1918		Kirkwall	Orkney
1832–1918		Tain	Ross-shire
1708–1885	Wigtown Burghs	Wigtown	Wigtownshire
1708–1885		Stranraer	Wigtownshire
1708–1885		New Galloway	Kirkcudbrightshire
1708–1885		Whithorn	Wigtownshire

Summary of districts and burghs by period

1708-1832 (14 Districts) (65 Burghs)

1. Aberdeen Burghs (5)
2. Anstruther Easter Burghs (5)
3. Ayr Burghs (5)
4. Dumfries Burghs (5)
5. Dysart Burghs (4)
6. Elgin Burghs (5)
7. Glasgow Burghs (4)
8. Haddington Burghs (5)
9. Inverness Burghs (4)
10. Linlithgow Burghs (4)
11. Perth Burghs (5)
12. Stirling Burghs (5)
13. Tain Burghs (5)
14. Wigtown Burghs (4)

1832-1868 (14 Districts) (69 Burghs)

1. Ayr Burghs (5)
2. Dumfries Burghs (5)
3. Elgin Burghs (6)
4. Falkirk Burghs (5)
5. Haddington Burghs (5)
6. Inverness Burghs (4)
7. Kilmarnock Burghs (5)
8. Kirkcaldy Burghs (4)
9. Leith Burghs (3)
10. Montrose Burghs (5)
11. St Andrews Burghs (7)
12. Stirling Burghs (5)
13. Wick Burghs (6)
14. Wigtown Burghs (4)

1868-1885 (15 Districts) (72 Burghs)

1. Ayr Burghs (5)
2. Dumfries Burghs (5)
3. Elgin Burghs (6)
4. Falkirk Burghs (5)
5. Haddington Burghs (5)
6. Inverness Burghs (4)
7. Hawick Burghs (3)
8. Kilmarnock Burghs (5)
9. Kirkcaldy Burghs (4)
10. Leith Burghs (3)
11. Montrose Burghs (5)
12. St Andrews Burghs (7)
13. Stirling Burghs (5)
14. Wick Burghs (6)
15. Wigtown Burghs (4)

1885-1918 (13 Districts) (62 Burghs)

1. Ayr Burghs (5)
2. Dumfries Burghs (5)
3. Elgin Burghs (6)
4. Falkirk Burghs (5)
5. Hawick Burghs (3)
6. Inverness Burghs (4)
7. Kilmarnock Burghs (5)
8. Kirkcaldy Burghs (4)
9. Leith Burghs (3)
10. Montrose Burghs (5)
11. St Andrews Burghs (7)
12. Stirling Burghs (5)
13. Wick Burghs (6)

1918-1950 (6 Districts) (26 Burghs)

1. Ayr Burghs (6)
2. Dumbarton Burghs (2)
3. Dunfermline Burghs (4)
4. Kirkcaldy Burghs (6)
5. Montrose Burghs (5)
6. Stirling & Falkirk Burghs (3)

See also

• Burgh constituency
• List of burghs in Scotland

Notes and references

1. ^ Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972 (ISBN 0-900178-09-4), F. W. S. Craig, 1972