Hawick Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)

Hawick Burghs was a district of burghs constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1868 until 1918. It consisted of the Roxburghshire burgh of Hawick and the Selkirkshire burghs of Galashiels and Selkirk.

Hawick Burghs
Former District of burghs constituency for the House of Commons
Subdivisions of Scotland	Roxburghshire and Selkirkshire
Major settlements	Hawick, Galashiels, and Selkirk
1868–1918
Seats	One
Created from	Roxburghshire Selkirkshire
Replaced by	Roxburgh and Selkirk

Members of Parliament

Election		Member^[1]	Party	Notes
	1868	George Trevelyan	Liberal
	1886		Liberal Unionist
	1886	Alexander Laing Brown	Liberal
	1892	Thomas Shaw	Liberal	later Baron Craigmyle
	1909 by-election	Sir John Barran	Liberal
1918		constituency abolished

Election results

 

Trevelyan

George Otto Trevelyan was returned without opposition at the 1868 general election and again after acceptance of office at a by-election on 14 January 1869.^[2]

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1868: Hawick Burghs ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Trevelyan	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,335
	Liberal win (new seat)

Trevelyan was appointed Civil Lord of the Admiralty.

By-election, 4 Jan 1869: Hawick Burghs ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Trevelyan	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Hawick Burghs ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Trevelyan	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,729
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Hawick Burghs ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Trevelyan	3,518	86.4	N/A
	Conservative	James Thomas Spencer Elliot^[4]^[5]	553	13.6	New
Majority			2,965	72.8	N/A
Turnout			4,071	82.7	N/A
Registered electors			4,920
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Trevelyan was appointed Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 18 May 1882: Hawick Burghs ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Trevelyan	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General election 1885: Hawick Burghs ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Trevelyan	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

Trevelyan was appointed Secretary of State for Scotland, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 10 Feb 1886: Hawick Burghs ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Trevelyan	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General election 1886: Hawick Burghs ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alexander Laing Brown	2,523	50.3	N/A
	Liberal Unionist	George Trevelyan	2,493	49.7	New
Majority			30	0.6	N/A
Turnout			5,016	88.3	N/A
Registered electors			5,679
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1890s

 

Shaw

General election 1892: Hawick Burghs ^[8][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Shaw	3,004	53.2	+2.9
	Liberal Unionist	Robert Fraser Watson	2,639	46.8	-2.9
Majority			365	6.4	+5.8
Turnout			5,643	89.7	+1.6
Registered electors			6,291
	Liberal hold		Swing	+2.9

Shaw was appointed Solicitor-General for Scotland, requiring a by-election.

1894 Hawick Burghs by-election^[8][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Shaw	3,203	55.6	+2.4
	Liberal Unionist	Ralph Wardlaw McLeod Fullarton	2,556	44.4	-2.4
Majority			647	11.2	+4.8
Turnout			5,759	91.4	+1.7
Registered electors			6,302
	Liberal hold		Swing	+2.4

General election 1895: Hawick Burghs ^[9][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Shaw	3,033	54.5	+1.3
	Liberal Unionist	John Sanderson	2,531	45.5	−1.3
Majority			502	9.0	+2.6
Turnout			5,564	87.5	−2.2
Registered electors			6,357
	Liberal hold		Swing	+1.3

Elections in the 1900s

 

Shaw

General election 1900: Hawick Burghs ^[9][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Shaw	2,611	52.3	−2.2
	Liberal Unionist	John Sanderson	2,386	47.7	+2.2
Majority			225	4.6	−4.4
Turnout			4,997	85.1	−2.4
Registered electors			5,869
	Liberal hold		Swing	−2.2

 

Conan Doyle

General election 1906: Hawick Burghs ^[10][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Shaw	3,125	56.1	+3.8
	Liberal Unionist	Arthur Conan Doyle	2,444	43.9	−3.8
Majority			681	12.2	+7.6
Turnout			5,569	92.0	+6.9
Registered electors			6,053
	Liberal hold		Swing	+3.8

 

Mackinder

1909 Hawick Burghs by-election^[11][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Barran	3,028	54.7	−1.4
	Liberal Unionist	Halford Mackinder	2,508	45.3	+1.4
Majority			520	9.4	−2.8
Turnout			5,536	92.8	+0.8
Registered electors			5,968
	Liberal hold		Swing	−1.4

Elections in the 1910s

 

Barran

General election January 1910: Hawick Burghs ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Barran	3,261	59.0	+4.3
	Liberal Unionist	James Graham (Scottish politician)	2,268	41.0	-4.3
Majority			993	18.0	+8.6
Turnout			5,529	91.7	-1.1
	Liberal hold		Swing	+4.3

General election December 1910: Hawick Burghs ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Barran	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

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 the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Liberal: John Barran
• Unionist: Norman W. Grieve

References

2. Debrett's House of Commons, 1870
3. 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.
4. "General Election". Aberdeen Free Press. 13 April 1880. p. 5. Retrieved 29 November 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
5. "Death of Sir Walter Elliot". Southern Reporter. 3 March 1887. p. 3. Retrieved 20 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
6. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
7. Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench, 1889
8. Whitaker's Almanack, 1893
9. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
10. Whitaker's Almanack, 1907
11. The Times, 6 March 1909
12. Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench, 1916