Haddington Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)

Haddington Burghs was a Scottish district of burghs constituency of the House of Commons of Great Britain (at Westminster) from 1708 to 1801 and of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom (also at Westminster) from 1801 until 1885. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) using the first-past-the-post voting system.

Haddington Burghs
Former district of Burghs constituency for the House of Commons
Major settlements	Haddington, Dunbar, North Berwick, Lauder, Jedburgh
1708–1885
Seats	one
Created from	Dunbar, Haddington, Jedburgh, Lauder, North Berwick
Replaced by	Berwickshire, Haddingtonshire, Roxburghshire

Creation

The British parliamentary constituency was created in 1708 following the Acts of Union, 1707 and replaced the former Parliament of Scotland burgh constituencies of Haddington, Dunbar, Jedburgh, Lauder and North Berwick

Boundaries

The constituency consisted of the Haddingtonshire burghs of Haddington, Dunbar, and North Berwick, the Berwickshire burgh of Lauder, and the Roxburghshire burgh of Jedburgh.

History

The constituency elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system until the seat was abolished for the 1885 general election.^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]}

In 1885, Haddington, Dunbar, and North Berwick were merged into the county constituency of Haddingtonshire, Lauder was merged into the county constituency of Berwickshire, and Jedburgh was merged into the county constituency of Roxburghshire.

Members of Parliament

Year		Member	Party
	1708	Sir David Dalrymple, 1st Baronet
	1722	Sir James Dalrymple, 2nd Baronet
	1734	James Fall
	1742	Sir Hew Dalrymple, 2nd Baronet
	1747	Andrew Fletcher
	1761	Sir Hew Dalrymple, 2nd Baronet
	1768	Patrick Warrender
	1774	John Maitland
	1780	Francis Charteris
	1787	William Fullarton
	1790	Thomas Maitland
	1796	Robert Baird
	1802	Thomas Maitland
	1805	Sir John Hamilton-Dalrymple, 5th Baronet
	1806	Henry Erskine	Whig
	1806	William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne	Whig
	1807	Sir George Warrender, 4th Baronet
	1812	Thomas Maitland
	1813	Anthony Maitland
	1818	Dudley North	Whig
	1820	Sir Hew Dalrymple-Hamilton, 4th Baronet
	1826	Sir Adolphus Dalrymple, 2nd Baronet	Tory[6]
	May 1831	Robert Steuart	Whig[6] (Unseated on petition)
	August 1831	Sir Adolphus Dalrymple, 2nd Baronet	Tory[6]
	1832	Robert Steuart	Whig[6]
	1841	James Maitland Balfour	Conservative[6]
	1847	Sir Henry Ferguson Davie	Whig[7][8]
	1859		Liberal
	1878	Lord William Hay	Liberal
	1879	Sir David Wedderburn, 3rd Baronet	Liberal
	1882	Alexander Craig Sellar	Liberal

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Haddington Burghs ^[6][9][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Adolphus Dalrymple	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 99
	Tory hold

General election 1831: Haddington Burghs ^[6][9][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Robert Steuart	3	60.0
	Tory	Adolphus Dalrymple	2	40.0
Majority			1	20.0
Turnout			5	c. 5.1
Registered electors			c. 99
	Whig gain from Tory

• On petition, Steuart was unseated in favour of Dalrymple

General election 1832: Haddington Burghs ^[6][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Robert Steuart	Unopposed
Registered electors			545
	Whig hold

General election 1835: Haddington Burghs ^[6][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Robert Steuart	Unopposed
Registered electors			601
	Whig hold

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

By-election, 2 May 1835: Haddington Burghs ^[6][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Robert Steuart	Unopposed
	Whig hold

General election 1837: Haddington Burghs ^[6][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Robert Steuart	268	53.1
	Conservative	Thomas Buchan-Hepburn	237	46.9
Majority			31	6.2
Turnout			505	79.5
Registered electors			635
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Haddington Burghs ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Maitland Balfour	273	50.8	+3.9
	Whig	Robert Steuart	264	49.2	−3.9
Majority			9	1.6	N/A
Turnout			537	82.6	+3.1
Registered electors			650
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	+3.9

General election 1847: Haddington Burghs ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Henry Ferguson Davie	Unopposed
Registered electors			775
	Whig gain from Conservative

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Haddington Burghs ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Henry Ferguson Davie	312	62.8	N/A
	Conservative	Archibald Campbell Swinton	185	37.2	New
Majority			127	25.6	N/A
Turnout			497	77.4	N/A
Registered electors			642
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1857: Haddington Burghs ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Henry Ferguson Davie	Unopposed
Registered electors			741
	Whig hold

General election 1859: Haddington Burghs ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Ferguson Davie	Unopposed
Registered electors			657
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Haddington Burghs ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Ferguson Davie	Unopposed
Registered electors			698
	Liberal hold

General election 1868: Haddington Burghs ^[12][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Ferguson Davie	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,477
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Haddington Burghs ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Ferguson Davie	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,753
	Liberal hold

Davie resigned, causing a by-election.

1878 Haddington Burghs by-election^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Hay	881	57.5	N/A
	Conservative	James Grant-Suttie	651	42.5	New
Majority			230	15.0	N/A
Turnout			1,532	83.3	N/A
Registered electors			1,840
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Hay succeeded to the peerage, becoming the 10th Marquess of Tweeddale.

1879 Haddington Burghs by-election^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	David Wedderburn	921	56.0	N/A
	Conservative	John Macdonald	723	44.0	N/A
Majority			198	12.0	N/A
Turnout			1,644	89.1	N/A
Registered electors			1,846
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Haddington Burghs ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	David Wedderburn	1,019	62.7	N/A
	Conservative	James Flower Houston[13]	607	37.3	N/A
Majority			412	25.4	N/A
Turnout			1,626	85.8	N/A
Registered electors			1,896
	Liberal hold		Swing

Wedderburn resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 24 Aug 1882: Haddington Burghs ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alexander Craig Sellar	833	60.5	−2.2
	Conservative	Walter Scott Seton-Karr[14]	544	39.5	+2.2
Majority			289	21.0	−4.4
Turnout			1,377	74.9	−10.9
Registered electors			1,839
	Liberal hold		Swing	−2.2