Hawick Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)

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
Number of members	One

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.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[1]	Party	Notes
	1868	George Otto Trevelyan	Liberal	later a 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

G.O. 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 1880s

George Otto Trevelyan was returned without opposition at the 1885 general election and again after acceptance of office as Secretary for Scotland, at a by-election on 10 February 1886.

General Election 1886: Hawick Burghs [3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alexander Laing Brown	2,523	50.3
	Liberal Unionist	Rt Hon. Sir George Otto Trevelyan	2,493	49.7
Majority			30	0.6
Turnout				88.3
	Liberal hold		Swing

Elections in the 1890s

Thomas Shaw

General Election 1892: Hawick Burghs [4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Shaw	3,004	53.2
	Liberal Unionist	Robert Fraser Watson	2,639	46.8
Majority			365	6.4
Turnout				89.7
	Liberal hold		Swing

Hawick Burghs by-election, 1894[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Shaw	3,203	55.6
	Liberal Unionist	Ralph Wardlaw McLeod Fullarton	2,556	44.4
Majority			647	11.2
Turnout				91.4
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election 1895: Hawick Burghs [6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Shaw	3,033	54.5	-1.1
	Liberal Unionist	John Sanderson	2,531	45.5	+1.1
Majority			502	9.0	-2.2
Turnout				87.5	-3.9
	Liberal hold		Swing	-1.1

Elections in the 1900s

Thomas Shaw

General Election 1900: Hawick Burghs [6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Shaw	2,611	52.3
	Liberal Unionist	John Sanderson	2,386	47.7
Majority			225	4.6
Turnout				85.1
	Liberal hold		Swing

Conan Doyle

General Election 1906: Hawick Burghs [7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Rt Hon. Thomas Shaw	3,125	56.1	+3.8
	Liberal Unionist	Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle	2,444	43.9	-3.8
Majority			681	12.2	+7.6
Turnout				92.0	+6.9
	Liberal hold		Swing	+3.8

H.J. Mackinder

Hawick Burghs by-election, 1909[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sir John Nicholson Barran	3,028	54.7
	Liberal Unionist	Halford John Mackinder	2,508	45.3
Majority			520	9.4
Turnout				92.8
	Liberal hold		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

Sir John Barran

General Election Jan 1910: Hawick Burghs [9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sir John Nicholson Barran	3,261	59.0	+4.3
	Liberal Unionist	James Edward Graham	2,268	41.0	-4.3
Majority			993	18.0	+8.6
Turnout				91.7	-1.1
	Liberal hold		Swing	+4.3

General Election Dec 1910: Hawick Burghs [9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sir John Nicholson Barran	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Liberal hold		Swing	n/a

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: Sir John Nicholson Barran
• Unionist: Norman W. Grieve

References

1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 2)
2. Debrett's House of Commons, 1870
3. Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench, 1889
4. Whitaker's Almanack, 1893
5. Whitaker's Almanack, 1893
6. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
7. Whitaker's Almanack, 1907
8. The Times, 6 March 1909
9. Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench, 1916