Until 1832 the Council of each burgh in a district elected a commissioner, who had one vote for the MP. The commissioner from the Returning Burgh (which function rotated amongst the burghs in successive elections) had an additional casting vote if the numbers were equal.
The Scottish Reform Act 1832 amended the composition of the districts, and the boundaries of a burgh for parliamentary purposes ceased to be necessarily those of the burgh for other purposes. The franchise was extended, and votes from all the burghs were added together.
The idea of parliamentary burghs continues to this day, in the form of burgh constituencies, which are distinct from county constituencies. This distinction is significant in terms of the expenses allowed to election candidates.
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This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources District of burghs news newspapers books scholar JSTOR September 2007 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Act of Union 1707 and pre Union Scottish legislation provided for 14 Members of Parliament MPs from Scotland to be elected from districts of burghs All the parliamentary burghs burghs represented in the pre Union Parliament of Scotland were assigned to a district except for Edinburgh which had an MP to itself The burghs in a district were not necessarily adjacent or even close together Until 1832 the Council of each burgh in a district elected a commissioner who had one vote for the MP The commissioner from the Returning Burgh which function rotated amongst the burghs in successive elections had an additional casting vote if the numbers were equal The Scottish Reform Act 1832 amended the composition of the districts and the boundaries of a burgh for parliamentary purposes ceased to be necessarily those of the burgh for other purposes The franchise was extended and votes from all the burghs were added together There were further changes to the number and the composition of the districts under the Representation of the People Scotland Act 1868 Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 and Representation of the People Act 1918 The district of burghs system was eventually discontinued by the House of Commons Redistribution of Seats Act 1949 but the term Burghs continued in use in the names of some constituencies until 1974 1 The idea of parliamentary burghs continues to this day in the form of burgh constituencies which are distinct from county constituencies This distinction is significant in terms of the expenses allowed to election candidates Contents 1 List of districts and burghs 2 Summary of districts and burghs by period 3 See also 4 Notes and referencesList of districts and burghs editPeriod District Burgh County1708 1832 Aberdeen Burghs Aberdeen Aberdeenshire1708 1832 Arbroath Forfarshire1708 1832 Inverbervie Kincardineshire1708 1832 Brechin Forfarshire1708 1832 Montrose Forfarshire1708 1832 Anstruther Easter Burghs Anstruther Easter Fife1708 1832 Anstruther Wester Fife1708 1832 Crail Fife1708 1832 Kilrenny Fife1708 1832 Pittenweem Fife1708 1950 Ayr Burghs Ayr Ayrshire1708 1918 Campbeltown Argyllshire1708 1918 Inverary Argyllshire1708 1950 Irvine Ayrshire1708 1832 Rothesay Buteshire1832 1918 Oban Argyllshire1918 1950 Ardrossan Ayrshire1918 1950 Prestwick Ayrshire1918 1950 Saltcoats Ayrshire1918 1950 Troon Ayrshire1918 1950 Dumbarton Burghs Dumbarton Dunbartonshire1918 1950 Clydebank Dunbartonshire1708 1918 Dumfries Burghs Dumfries Dumfriesshire1708 1918 Annan Dumfriesshire1708 1918 Kirkcudbright Kirkcudbrightshire1708 1918 Lochmaben Dumfriesshire1708 1918 Sanquhar Dumfriesshire1918 1950 Dunfermline Burghs Dunfermline Fife1918 1950 Cowdenbeath Fife1918 1950 Inverkeithing Fife1918 1950 Lochgelly Fife1708 1832 Dysart Burghs Dysart Fife1708 1832 Burntisland Fife1708 1832 Kinghorn Fife1708 1832 Kirkcaldy Fife1708 1918 Elgin Burghs Elgin Elginshire1708 1918 Banff Banffshire1708 1918 Cullen Banffshire1708 1918 Inverurie Aberdeenshire1708 1918 Kintore Aberdeenshire1832 1918 Peterhead Aberdeenshire1832 1918 Falkirk Burghs Falkirk Stirlingshire1832 1918 Airdrie Lanarkshire1832 1918 Hamilton Lanarkshire1832 1918 Lanark Lanarkshire1832 1918 Linlithgow Linlithgowshire1708 1832 Glasgow Burghs Glasgow Lanarkshire1708 1832 Dumbarton Dunbartonshire1708 1832 Renfrew Renfrewshire1708 1832 Rutherglen Lanarkshire1708 1885 Haddington Burghs Haddington Haddingtonshire1708 1885 Dunbar Haddingtonshire1708 1885 Jedburgh Roxburghshire1708 1885 Lauder Berwickshire1708 1885 North Berwick Haddingtonshire1868 1918 Hawick Burghs Hawick Roxburghshire1868 1918 Galashiels Selkirkshire1868 1918 Selkirk Selkirkshire1708 1918 Inverness Burghs Inverness Inverness shire1708 1918 Forres Elginshire1708 1918 Fortrose Ross shire1708 1918 Nairn Nairnshire1832 1918 Kilmarnock Burghs Kilmarnock Ayrshire1832 1918 Dumbarton Dunbartonshire1832 1918 Port Glasgow Renfrewshire1832 1918 Renfrew Renfrewshire1832 1918 Rutherglen Lanarkshire1832 1950 Kirkcaldy Burghs Kirkcaldy Fife1832 1950 Burntisland Fife1832 1950 Dysart Fife1832 1950 Kinghorn Fife1918 1950 Buckhaven Fife1918 1950 Methil and Innerleven Fife1832 1918 Leith Burghs Leith Edinburghshire1832 1918 Musselburgh Edinburghshire1832 1918 Portobello Edinburghshire1708 1832 Linlithgow Burghs Linlithgow Linlithgowshire1708 1832 Lanark Lanarkshire1708 1832 Peebles Peeblesshire1708 1832 Selkirk Selkirkshire1832 1950 Montrose Burghs Montrose Forfarshire1832 1950 Arbroath Forfarshire1832 1950 Brechin Forfarshire1832 1950 Forfar Forfarshire1832 1950 Inverbervie Aberdeenshire1708 1832 Perth Burghs Perth Perthshire1708 1832 Cupar Fife1708 1832 Dundee Forfarshire1708 1832 Forfar Forfarshire1708 1832 St Andrews Fife1832 1918 St Andrews Burghs St Andrews Fife1832 1918 Anstruther Easter Fife1832 1918 Anstruther Wester Fife1832 1918 Crail Fife1832 1918 Cupar Fife1832 1918 Kilrenny Fife1832 1918 Pittenweem Fife1918 1950 Stirling and Falkirk Burghs Stirling Stirlingshire1918 1950 Falkirk Stirlingshire1918 1950 Grangemouth Stirlingshire1708 1918 Stirling Burghs Stirling Stirlingshire1708 1918 Culross Perthshire1708 1918 Dunfermline Fife1708 1918 Inverkeithing Fife1708 1832 Queensferry Linlithgowshire1832 1918 South Queensferry Linlithgowshire1708 1832 Tain Burghs Tain Ross shire1708 1832 Dingwall Ross shire1708 1832 Dornoch Sutherland1708 1832 Kirkwall Orkney1708 1832 Wick Caithness1832 1918 Wick Burghs Wick Caithness1832 1918 Cromarty Cromartyshire1832 1918 Dingwall Ross shire1832 1918 Dornoch Sutherland1832 1918 Kirkwall Orkney1832 1918 Tain Ross shire1708 1885 Wigtown Burghs Wigtown Wigtownshire1708 1885 Stranraer Wigtownshire1708 1885 New Galloway Kirkcudbrightshire1708 1885 Whithorn WigtownshireSummary of districts and burghs by period edit1708 1832 14 Districts 65 Burghs Aberdeen Burghs 5 Anstruther Easter Burghs 5 Ayr Burghs 5 Dumfries Burghs 5 Dysart Burghs 4 Elgin Burghs 5 Glasgow Burghs 4 Haddington Burghs 5 Inverness Burghs 4 Linlithgow Burghs 4 Perth Burghs 5 Stirling Burghs 5 Tain Burghs 5 Wigtown Burghs 4 1832 1868 14 Districts 69 Burghs Ayr Burghs 5 Dumfries Burghs 5 Elgin Burghs 6 Falkirk Burghs 5 Haddington Burghs 5 Inverness Burghs 4 Kilmarnock Burghs 5 Kirkcaldy Burghs 4 Leith Burghs 3 Montrose Burghs 5 St Andrews Burghs 7 Stirling Burghs 5 Wick Burghs 6 Wigtown Burghs 4 1868 1885 15 Districts 72 Burghs Ayr Burghs 5 Dumfries Burghs 5 Elgin Burghs 6 Falkirk Burghs 5 Haddington Burghs 5 Inverness Burghs 4 Hawick Burghs 3 Kilmarnock Burghs 5 Kirkcaldy Burghs 4 Leith Burghs 3 Montrose Burghs 5 St Andrews Burghs 7 Stirling Burghs 5 Wick Burghs 6 Wigtown Burghs 4 1885 1918 13 Districts 62 Burghs Ayr Burghs 5 Dumfries Burghs 5 Elgin Burghs 6 Falkirk Burghs 5 Hawick Burghs 3 Inverness Burghs 4 Kilmarnock Burghs 5 Kirkcaldy Burghs 4 Leith Burghs 3 Montrose Burghs 5 St Andrews Burghs 7 Stirling Burghs 5 Wick Burghs 6 1918 1950 6 Districts 26 Burghs Ayr Burghs 6 Dumbarton Burghs 2 Dunfermline Burghs 4 Kirkcaldy Burghs 6 Montrose Burghs 5 Stirling amp Falkirk Burghs 3 See also editBurgh constituency List of burghs in ScotlandNotes and references edit Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885 1972 ISBN 0 900178 09 4 F W S Craig 1972 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title District of burghs amp oldid 1081584682, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
