Ayrshire (Parliament of Scotland constituency)

Before the Acts of Union 1707, the Barons of the Sheriffdom or Shire of Ayr elected commissioners to represent them in the Parliament of Scotland and in the Convention of the Estates. The number of commissioners was increased from two to four in 1690. After the Union, Ayrshire returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of Great Britain and later to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.

List of shire commissioners

• 1605, 1609: Sir John Wallace of Carnell^[1]

Parliament or Convention	Commissioners
Parliament 12–13 October 1612[2]	none
Convention 7 March 1617[3]	William Cunningham of Caprington[4]		Josias Steuart of Bonytown[5]
Parliament 27 May–28 June 1617[6]
Convention 25–26 January 1621[7]	none
Parliament 1 June–4 August 1621[7]	Bryce Blair of Blair[8]		Sir John Wallace of Carnell[1][8]
Convention 27 October–2 November 1625[9]	John or Hew Cathcart of Carleton[10][11]		David Dunbar of Enterkine[11][12]
Parliament 15 September 1628 – 28 June 1633[13]	Sir William Cunningham of Cunninghamhead[4][14]		James Chalmers of Gaitgirth[10]
Convention 28 July–7 August 1630[15]	Bryce Blair of Blair[16]		Alexander Cunningham of Corsehill[16][17]
Parliament 15 May 1639 – 17 November 1641[18]	Sir William Cunningham of Cunninghamhead[4][14]		Hugh Campbell of Cessnock[19][20]
	Henry Montgomerie[21] (from 2 April 1640)
Convention 22 June 1643 – 3 June 1644[22]	Sir William Mure of Rowallan[23]		James Fullarton of Crosbie[24]
	Sir John Crawfurd of Kilbirnie (from 10 April 1644)[25][26]		William Cochrane of Cowdoun (from 10 April 1644)[27]
Parliament 4 June 1644 – 27 March 1647[28]
	Hugh Campbell of Cessnock (from 7 January 1645)[19][20]
Parliament 2 March 1648 – 6 June 1651[29]	Sir William Cunningham of Cunninghamhead[4][14]		James Fullarton of Fullarton[24]
			Sir Hugh Campbell of Cessnock (from 4 January 1649)[19][20]
During the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, the sheriffdoms of Ayr and Renfrew were jointly represented by one Member of Parliament in the Protectorate Parliament at Westminster. After the Restoration, the Parliament of Scotland was again summoned to meet in Edinburgh.
Parliament 1 January 1661 – 9 October 1663[30]	Sir John Crawford of Kilbirnie (died 1662)[25][26]		Robert Montgomerie of Hessilhead[31]
Convention 2–4 August 1665[32]	Sir Thomas Wallace of Craigie[33][34]		John Cunningham of Brownhill[35][36]
Convention 9–23 January 1667[37]	Sir John Cochrane of Ochiltree[38][39]		Sir Thomas Wallace of Craigie[33][34]
Parliament 19 October 1669 – 3 March 1674[40]			William Blair of Blair[41]
Convention 26 June–11 July 1678[42]	William Blair of Blair[41]
Parliament 28 July 1681 – 1 March 1682[43]	Sir John Cochrane of Ochiltree[38][39]		Sir John Cunningham of Lambroughton[35][36]
Parliament 23 April 1685 – 15 June 1686[44]	William Blair of Blair[41]
Convention 14 March–24 May 1689[45]	William Blair of Blair (died 1690)[41]		Sir James Montgomerie of Skelmorlie[21][46]
Parliament 5 June 1689 – 30 June 1702[47]
	Francis Montgomerie of Giffen[21]
	By Act of Parliament 14 June 1690, the shire of Ayr was allocated two additional Commissioners.[47]
	Sir James Montgomerie of Skelmorlie (place declared vacant 28 April 1693)[21][46]	Francis Montgomerie of Giffen[21]	William Mure of Rowallan (died 1700)[23]	Hugh Buntine of Kilbryde[48]
	John Crawford of Kilbirnie[49]
			John Campbell of Shankstown[50]
Parliament 12 November 1702 – 25 March 1707[51]	Francis Montgomerie of Giffen[21]	William Dalrymple of Drongan[52]	Sir Hugh Cathcart of Carleton[10]	John Crawford of Kilbirnie (created Viscount of Mount Crawford 10 April 1703)[49]
				John Brisbane of Bishopton, yr[53]

Sources

• Return of Members of Parliament (1878), Part II.
• Joseph Foster, Members of Parliament, Scotland (1882).
• George Edward Cokayne, The Complete Baronetage, 5 vols (1901–6).
• The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland.

See also

• List of constituencies in the Parliament of Scotland at the time of the Union