After the Acts of Union 1707, the peerage of Scotland elected sixteen of their number, the Scottish representative peers, to sit in the House of Lords at Westminster. General elections were held with each Parliament, and by-elections to fill vacancies in between. The elections ceased after the Peerage Act 1963 granted all peers of Scotland an hereditary seat in the House of Lords.
The first election of Scottish representative peers took place on 15 February 1707 at the Parliament House, Edinburgh, shortly before the Parliament of Scotland was adjourned for the last time on 25 March. The commissioners for the barons and the burghs chose their representatives to the British House of Commons at the same time. [1]
The elections were not without controversy: in November 1708, four Scottish peers - William Johnstone, 1st Marquess of Annandale, John Earl of Sutherland, Patrick Earl of Marchmont, and William Lord Rosse - presented a petition in the House of Lords complaining of irregularities in the voting which they claimed had led to them being unfairly outvoted by William Kerr, 3rd Marquess of Lothian, and the Earls of Wemyss, Loudoun, and Glasgow. [2] After taking evidence and legal advice, and ordering a recount of votes, the House of Lords resolved on 3 February 1709, to remove the Marquess of Lothian, and replace him with the Marquess of Annandale. [3]
Date | General or by-election | Place | Returning officers | Number of peers present |
---|---|---|---|---|
17 June 1708 | G | Palace of Holyroodhouse | Two Clerks of Session | 57 |
10 November 1710 | G | 49 | ||
14 August 1712 | B | 32 | ||
13 January 1713 | B | 25 | ||
8 October 1713 | G | 36 | ||
3 March 1715 | G | 43 | ||
28 February 1716 | B | 18 | ||
1 June 1721 | B | 22 | ||
21 April 1722 | G | 42 | ||
15 August 1722 | B | 18 | ||
13 June 1723 | B | 13 | ||
20 September 1727 | G | 33 | ||
17 November 1730 | B | 23 | ||
19 February 1731 | B | 17 | ||
28 January 1732 | B | 17 | ||
21 September 1733 | B | 37 | ||
4 June 1734 | G | Burgh Room | 60 | |
22 October 1736 | B | 33 | ||
14 April 1737 | B | 21 | ||
14 March 1738 | B | 21 | ||
22 March 1739 | B | 20 | ||
13 June 1741 | G | Court of Exchequer | 37 | |
30 April 1742 | B | Palace of Holyroodhouse | 24 | |
12 October 1744 | B | 17 | ||
1 August 1747 | G | 33 | ||
15 March 1750 | B | 25 | ||
9 July 1752 | B | 26 | ||
16 November 1752 | B | 23 | ||
21 May 1754 | G | 36 | ||
5 May 1761 | G | 39 | ||
12 August 1761 | B | 22 | ||
8 March 1763 | B | 20 | ||
21 August 1766 | B | 23 | ||
1 October 1767 | B | 28 | ||
26 April 1768 | G | 37 | ||
21 December 1768 | B | 17 | ||
17 January 1770 | B | 23 | ||
2 January 1771 | B | 28 | ||
15 November 1774 | G | 34 | ||
24 January 1776 | B | 13 | ||
13 June 1776 | B | 13 | ||
14 November 1776 | B | 15 | ||
24 September 1778 | B | 15 | ||
17 October 1780 | G | 26 | ||
24 July 1782 | B | 14 | ||
8 May 1784 | G | 40 | ||
28 March 1787 | B | 19 | ||
10 January 1788 | B | 18 | ||
24 July 1790 | G | 33 | ||
7 August 1793 | B | 13 | ||
23 October 1794 | B | 11 | ||
30 June 1796 | G | 25 | ||
15 August 1798 | B | 11 | ||
10 August 1802 | G | 29 | ||
16 June 1803 | B | 13 | ||
14 November 1804 | B | 15 | ||
4 December 1806 | G | 18 | ||
9 June 1807 | G | 20 | ||
13 November 1812 | G | 29 | ||
17 April 1817 | B | 13 | ||
24 July 1818 | G | 27 | ||
18 March 1819 | B | 10 | ||
11 April 1820 | G | 21 | ||
2 August 1821 | B | 10 | ||
2 October 1823 | B | 11 | ||
8 July 1824 | B | 6 | ||
2 June 1825 | B | 8 | ||
13 July 1826 | G | 25 | ||
10 April 1828 | B | 10 | ||
2 September 1830 | G | 21 | ||
3 June 1831 | G | 30 | ||
14 January 1833 | G | 31 | ||
10 February 1835 | G | 24 | ||
25 August 1837 | G | 18 | ||
5 August 1841 | G | 21 | ||
19 January 1842 | B | 8 | ||
19 July 1843 | B | 8 | ||
17 March 1847 | B | 9 | ||
8 September 1847 | G | 16 | ||
13 March 1850 | B | 11 | ||
6 August 1851 | B | 11 | ||
15 July 1852 | G | Four Clerks of Session | 19 | |
7 September 1853 | B | 16 | ||
16 November 1853 | B | 10 | ||
14 April 1857 | G | 18 | ||
29 June 1858 | B | Two Clerks of Session | 11 | |
10 May 1859 | G | 19 | ||
15 November 1860 | B | 15 | ||
28 July 1865 | G | Lord Clerk Register (Sir William Gibson-Craig) | 24 | |
21 March 1867 | B | 9 | ||
27 November 1867 | B | 7 | ||
3 December 1868 | G | 18 | ||
7 July 1869 | B | 2 | ||
4 August 1870 | B | 7 | ||
7 March 1872 | B | 8 | ||
18 February 1874 | G | 20 | ||
22 December 1876 | B | 18 | ||
11 March 1879 | B | Lord Clerk Register (The Earl of Glasgow) | 24 | |
16 April 1880 | G | 26 | ||
11 January 1882 | B | 15 | ||
17 February 1885 | B | 17 | ||
10 June 1885 | B | 4 | ||
10 December 1885 | G | 26 | ||
4 February 1886 | B | 7 | ||
25 March 1886 | B | 8 | ||
20 July 1886 | G | 15 | ||
10 January 1889 | B | Deputy Clerk Register (Stair Agnew) | 7 | |
6 January 1890 | B | Lord Clerk Register | 15 | |
10 December 1891 | B | Lord Clerk Register (the Duke of Montrose) | 12 | |
14 July 1892 | G | 16 | ||
18 July 1894 | B | 10 | ||
24 July 1895 | G | 12 | ||
5 October 1900 | G | Deputy Clerk Register (Sir Stair Agnew) | 17 | |
30 January 1906 | G | Lord Clerk Register | 25 | |
8 November 1906 | B | Two Clerks of Session | 3 | |
28 January 1910 | G | Lord Clerk Register | 19 | |
15 December 1910 | G | 15 | ||
10 October 1917 | B | 12 | ||
20 December 1918 | G | 14 | ||
13 January 1922 | G | 17 | ||
16 November 1922 | G | 20 | ||
10 December 1923 | G | 16 | ||
3 November 1924 | G | 23 | ||
31 May 1929 | G | Lord Clerk Register (the Duke of Buccleuch) | 27 | |
29 October 1931 | G | 19 | ||
15 November 1935 | G | Principal Clerk of Session | 25 | |
8 January 1941 | B | Lord Clerk Register (the Earl of Mar and Kellie) | 9 | |
6 July 1945 | G | Lord Clerk Register (the Lord Elphinstone) | 12 | |
1 July 1947 | B | 12 | ||
21 February 1950 | G | 26 | ||
23 October 1951 | G | 23 | ||
2 April 1952 | B | 14 | ||
23 May 1955 | G | Parliament House | 32 | |
1 September 1958 | B | Palace of Holyroodhouse | Lord Clerk Register (the Duke of Buccleuch) | 18 |
6 October 1959 | G | 25 |
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