Stirlingshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Stirlingshire
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
Subdivisions of Scotland	Stirlingshire
1708–1918
Seats	One
Replaced by	Clackmannan & Eastern Stirlingshire Stirling & Clackmannan Western

Stirlingshire was a Scottish county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain and later of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1708 until 1918. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by 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 shire constituency of Stirlingshire.

History

The constituency elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system until the seat was abolished in 1918. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]} For the 1918 general election it was divided into Clackmannan and Eastern Stirlingshire and Stirling and Clackmannan Western.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1708	Henry Cunningham
	1710	Sir Hugh Paterson
	1715	Mungo Haldane
	1722	John Graham
	1727	Henry Cunningham
	1734	Sir James Campbell
	1741	Lord George Graham
	1747	Lord Erskine
	1747	James Campbell, later Livingstone
	1768	Sir Thomas Dundas
	1794	Robert Graham
	1796	Sir George Elphinstone
	1802	Charles Elphinstone Fleeming
	1812	Sir Charles Edmonstone
	1821	Henry Home-Drummond	Tory [6]
	1831	William Ramsay	Tory [6]
	1832	Charles Elphinstone Fleeming	Whig [6] [7]
	1835	William Forbes	Conservative [6] [7]
	1838	George Abercromby	Whig [6] [7]
	1841	William Forbes	Conservative [6] [7]
	1855	Peter Blackburn	Conservative [7]
	1865	John Erskine	Liberal [7]
	1874	Sir William Edmonstone	Conservative [7]
	1880	Joseph Cheney Bolton	Liberal [7]
	1892	William Jacks	Liberal
	1895	James McKillop	Conservative
	1906	Donald Mackenzie Smeaton	Liberal
	1910	William Chapple	Liberal
1918		constituency abolished

Elections

Decades:

1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Stirlingshire ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Henry Home-Drummond	Unopposed
Registered electors			132
	Tory hold

General election 1831: Stirlingshire ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	William Ramsay	45	54.9
	Whig	Charles Elphinstone Fleeming	37	45.1
Majority			8	9.8
Turnout			82	62.1
Registered electors			132
	Tory hold

General election 1832: Stirlingshire ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Charles Elphinstone Fleeming	995	68.2	+23.1
	Tory	William Forbes	465	31.8	−23.1
Majority			530	36.4	N/A
Turnout			1,460	81.7	+19.6
Registered electors			1,787
	Whig gain from Tory		Swing	+23.1

General election 1835: Stirlingshire ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Forbes	779	50.7	+18.9
	Whig	Charles Elphinstone Fleeming	759	49.3	−18.9
Majority			20	1.4	N/A
Turnout			1,538	79.0	−2.7
Registered electors			1,948
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	+18.9

General election 1837: Stirlingshire ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Forbes	859	50.0	−0.7
	Whig	George Abercromby	858	50.0	+0.7
Majority			1	0.0	−1.4
Turnout			1,717	81.6	+2.6
Registered electors			2,105
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.7

• After scrutiny, Forbes' election was declared void and Abercromby was declared elected

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Stirlingshire ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Forbes	1,019	53.2	+3.2
	Whig	Sir Michael Bruce, 7th Baronet	895	46.8	−3.2
Majority			124	6.4	+6.4
Turnout			1,914	82.4	+0.8
Registered electors			2,323
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.2

General election 1847: Stirlingshire ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Forbes	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,398
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Stirlingshire ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Forbes	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,431
	Conservative hold

Forbes' death caused a by-election.

By-election, 5 March 1855: Stirlingshire ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Blackburn	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1857: Stirlingshire ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Blackburn	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,973
	Conservative hold

Blackburn was appointed a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 14 March 1859: Stirlingshire ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Blackburn	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1859: Stirlingshire ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Blackburn	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,900
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Stirlingshire ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Erskine	726	51.2	New
	Conservative	Peter Blackburn	692	48.8	N/A
Majority			34	2.4	N/A
Turnout			1,418	73.0	N/A
Registered electors			1,943
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

General election 1868: Stirlingshire ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Erskine	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,751
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Stirlingshire ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Edmonstone	1,171	51.0	New
	Liberal	Sir William Cunningham Bruce, 9th Baronet	1,127	49.0	N/A
Majority			44	2.0	N/A
Turnout			2,298	81.0	N/A
Registered electors			2,837
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Stirlingshire ^{[9] [7]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Joseph Cheney Bolton	1,606	56.3	+7.3
	Conservative	William Edmonstone	1,246	43.7	−7.3
Majority			360	12.6	N/A
Turnout			2,852	85.7	+4.7
Registered electors			3,328
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+7.3

General election 1885: Stirlingshire ^{[10] [11]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Joseph Cheney Bolton	6,454	62.1	+5.8
	Conservative	Hugh Shaw-Stewart	3,938	37.9	−5.8
Majority			2,516	24.2	+11.6
Turnout			10,392	83.2	−2.5
Registered electors			12,486
	Liberal hold		Swing	+5.8

Noel

General election 1886: Stirlingshire ^{[10] [11]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Joseph Cheney Bolton	5,067	53.7	−8.4
	Liberal Unionist	Ernest Noel	4,360	46.3	+8.4
Majority			707	7.4	−16.8
Turnout			9,427	75.5	−7.7
Registered electors			12,486
	Liberal hold		Swing	-8.4

Elections in the 1890s

Jacks

General election 1892: Stirlingshire ^{[12] [11]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Jacks	5,296	50.4	−3.3
	Liberal Unionist	Ernest Noel	4,550	43.3	−3.0
	Scottish Trades Councils	Robert Chisholm Robertson	663	6.3	New
Majority			746	7.1	−0.3
Turnout			10,509	80.1	+4.6
Registered electors			13,128
	Liberal hold		Swing	-0.2

General election 1895: Stirlingshire ^{[13] [11]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James McKillop	5,916	51.9	+8.6
	Liberal	William Jacks	5,489	48.1	−2.3
Majority			427	3.8	N/A
Turnout			11,405	79.6	−0.5
Registered electors			14,329
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+5.5

Elections in the 1900s

Robertson

General election 1900: Stirlingshire ^{[13] [11]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James McKillop	6,325	51.2	−0.7
	Liberal	George Scott Robertson	6,023	48.8	+0.7
Majority			302	2.4	−1.4
Turnout			12,348	76.3	−3.3
Registered electors			16,179
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.7

General election 1906: Stirlingshire ^{[14] [11]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Donald Mackenzie Smeaton	9,475	62.0	+13.2
	Conservative	James Graham	5,806	38.0	−13.2
Majority			3,669	24.0	N/A
Turnout			15,281	80.7	+4.4
Registered electors			18,942
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+13.2

Elections in the 1910s

Chapple

General election January 1910: Stirlingshire ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Chapple	10,122	61.2	−0.8
	Conservative	Robert Horne	6,417	38.8	+0.8
Majority			3,705	22.4	−1.6
Turnout			16,539	82.1	+1.4
Registered electors			20,144
	Liberal hold		Swing	-0.8

Horne

General election December 1910: Stirlingshire ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Chapple	9,183	58.6	−2.6
	Conservative	Robert Horne	6,487	41.4	+2.6
Majority			2,696	17.2	−5.2
Turnout			15,670	77.2	−4.9
Registered electors			20,294
	Liberal hold		Swing	-2.6

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Liberal: William Chapple
• Unionist: Andrew B. King ^[16]

References

1. "Stirlingshire". History of Parliament Online (1690-1715). Retrieved 9 June 2019.
2. "Stirlingshire". History of Parliament Online (1715-1754). Retrieved 9 June 2019.
3. "Stirlingshire". History of Parliament Online (1754-1790). Retrieved 9 June 2019.
4. "Stirlingshire". History of Parliament Online (1790-1820). Retrieved 9 June 2019.
5. "Stirlingshire". History of Parliament Online (1820-1832). Retrieved 9 June 2019.
6. Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. pp. 211–212. Retrieved 14 September 2018– via Google Books.
7. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. ISBN   978-1-349-02349-3.
8. Jenkins, Terry. "Stirlingshire". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
9. The Times
10. Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench, 1889
11. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN   9781349022984.
12. Whitaker's Almanack, 1893
13. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
14. Whitaker's Almanack, 1907
15. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916
16. Stirling Observer 21 Mar 1914

Sources

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 5)