Aberdeenshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1801–1868
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Aberdeenshire was a Scottish county 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 until 1868.
| Aberdeenshire | |
|---|---|
| Former county constituency for the House of Commons | |
| Subdivisions of Scotland | Aberdeenshire |
| 1708â1868 | |
| Seats | One |
| Replaced by | Eastern Aberdeenshire Western Aberdeenshire |
In 1868 it was divided to create Eastern Aberdeenshire and Western Aberdeenshire.
Creation
The British parliamentary constituency was created in 1708 following the Acts of Union 1707 and replaced the former Parliament of Scotland shire constituency of Aberdeenshire .
Boundaries
When created in 1708, the constituency covered the county of Aberdeen minus the burgh of Aberdeen, which was part of the Aberdeen Burghs constituency.[citation needed]
Under the Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1832 the Aberdeen burgh constituency was created to cover the burgh plus areas previously within the Aberdeenshire constituency.[1]
History
The constituency elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system until the seat was abolished for the 1868 general election.[2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
In 1868, the Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1868 divided Aberdeenshire to form Eastern Aberdeenshire and Western Aberdeenshire, and these new constituencies were first used in the 1868 general election.
Members of Parliament
| Election [7] | Member | Party | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1708 | Lord Haddo | Tory | ||
| 1709 by-election | Sir Alexander Cumming, Bt | Tory[3] | ||
| 1722 | Sir Archibald Grant, Bt | Opposition Whig[3] | expelled due to his role in the Charitable Corporation | |
| 1732 by-election | Sir Arthur Forbes, Bt | Whig[3] | ||
| 1747 | Andrew Mitchell | Whig[3] | MP for Elgin Burghs 1755â1771 | |
| 1754 | Lord Adam Gordon | Pro-Administration | MP for Kincardineshire 1774â1788 | |
| 1768 | Alexander Garden | Independent | ||
| 1786 by-election | George Skene | Whig | MP for Elgin Burghs 1806â1807 | |
| 1790 | James Ferguson | Tory | MP for Banffshire 1789â1790 | |
| Sept 1820 by-election | William Gordon | Tory[8] | Royal Navy officer, Commander-in-Chief, The Nore | |
| 1834 | Conservative[8] | |||
| 1854 by-election | Lord Haddo | Peelite[9][10][11] | succeeded as Earl of Aberdeen in 1860 | |
| 1859 | Liberal | |||
| 1861 by-election | William Leslie | Conservative | resigned May 1866 | |
| 1866 by-election | William Dingwall Fordyce | Liberal | afterwards MP for East Aberdeenshire | |
| 1868 | constituency divided: see Eastern Aberdeenshire and Western Aberdeenshire | |||
Election results
Elections in the 1830s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tory | William Gordon | Unopposed | |||
| Registered electors | 184 | ||||
| Tory hold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tory | William Gordon | 75 | 68.2 | ||
| Whig | Sir Michael Bruce, 8th Baronet | 32 | 29.1 | ||
| Tory | John Gordon | 3 | 2.7 | ||
| Majority | 43 | 39.1 | |||
| Turnout | 110 | 59.8 | |||
| Registered electors | 184 | ||||
| Tory hold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tory | William Gordon | 1,183 | 54.1 | â14.1 | |
| Whig | Sir Michael Bruce, 8th Baronet | 1,002 | 45.9 | +16.8 | |
| Majority | 181 | 8.2 | â30.9 | ||
| Turnout | 2,185 | 96.2 | +36.4 | ||
| Registered electors | 2,271 | ||||
| Tory hold | Swing | â15.5 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | William Gordon | Unopposed | |||
| Registered electors | 2,271 | ||||
| Conservative hold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | William Gordon | 1,220 | 60.2 | ||
| Whig | Sir Thomas Burnett, 8th Baronet | 807 | 39.8 | ||
| Majority | 413 | 20.4 | |||
| Turnout | 2,027 | 67.7 | |||
| Registered electors | 2,996 | ||||
| Conservative hold | |||||
Elections in the 1840s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | William Gordon | Unopposed | |||
| Registered electors | 3,181 | ||||
| Conservative hold | |||||
Gordon was appointed a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty, requiring a by-election.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | William Gordon | Unopposed | |||
| Conservative hold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | William Gordon | Unopposed | |||
| Registered electors | 3,694 | ||||
| Conservative hold | |||||
Elections in the 1850s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | William Gordon | Unopposed | |||
| Registered electors | 4,022 | ||||
| Conservative hold | |||||
Gordon resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, causing a by-election.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peelite | George Hamilton-Gordon | Unopposed | |||
| Peelite gain from Conservative | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peelite | George Hamilton-Gordon | Unopposed | |||
| Registered electors | 4,682 | ||||
| Peelite gain from Conservative | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | George Hamilton-Gordon | Unopposed | |||
| Registered electors | 4,952 | ||||
| Liberal hold | |||||
Elections in the 1860s
Hamilton-Gordon succeeded as 5th Earl of Aberdeen, and had thus become ineligible to sit in the House of Commons.[14] The ensuing by-election was won by the Conservative candidate, William Leslie.[15]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | William Leslie | 851 | 56.1 | New | |
| Liberal | Arthur Hamilton-Gordon[16] | 665 | 43.9 | N/A | |
| Majority | 186 | 12.2 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 1,516 | 30.8 | N/A | ||
| Registered electors | 4,928 | ||||
| Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | N/A | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | William Leslie | Unopposed | |||
| Registered electors | 4,384 | ||||
| Conservative gain from Liberal | |||||
Leslie resigned, causing a by-election.[17]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | William Dingwall Fordyce | 2,175 | 66.7 | New | |
| Conservative | James Dalrymple-Horn-Elphinstone | 1,088 | 33.3 | N/A | |
| Majority | 1,087 | 33.4 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 3,263 | 73.4 | N/A | ||
| Registered electors | 4,447 | ||||
| Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | N/A | |||