Kirkcudbright Stewartry (UK Parliament constituency)

Kirkcudbright Stewartry
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
Subdivisions of Scotland	The Stewartry of Kirkcudbright
1708–1918
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Galloway
Created from	Kirkcudbrightshire

Kirkcudbright Stewartry, later known as Kirkcudbright or Kirkcudbrightshire, was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918. It was represented by one Member of Parliament (MP).

The first election in the stewartry was in 1708. In 1707-08, members of the 1702-1707 Parliament of Scotland were co-opted to serve in the 1st Parliament of Great Britain. See Scottish representatives to the 1st Parliament of Great Britain, for further details.

In 1918 the area was combined with Wigtownshire to form the Galloway constituency.

Boundaries

The Stewartry of Kirkcudbright was a Scottish stewartry (later considered to be a county and sometimes called Kirkcudbrightshire), which had been represented by two commissioners in the former Parliament of Scotland. The constituency included the whole stewartry, except for the Royal burghs of Kirkcudbright (which formed part of the Dumfries Burghs constituency) and New Galloway (which between 1708-1885 was included in the Wigtown Burghs district).

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	25 June 1708	John Stewart
	17 February 1715	Alexander Murray
	14 September 1727	Patrick Heron
	22 May 1741	Basil Hamilton
	31 December 1742	John Maxwell
	30 July 1747	John Ross Mackye
	19 April 1768	James Murray
	2 November 1774	William Stewart
	9 October 1780	Peter Johnston
	6 April 1781	John Gordon
	6 February 1782	Peter Johnston
	16 August 1786	Alexander Stewart
	23 March 1795	Patrick Heron	Whig
	10 May 1803	Montgomery Granville John Stewart	Conservative
	2 November 1812	James Dunlop
	21 June 1826	Robert Cutlar Fergusson
	31 December 1838	Alexander Murray
	20 August 1845	Thomas Maitland	Whig
	20 February 1850	John Mackie
	3 April 1857	James Mackie
	30 January 1868	Wellwood Herries Maxwell
	10 February 1874	John Maitland
	9 April 1880	John Maxwell Heron-Maxwell
	1 December 1885	Sir Mark John McTaggart-Stewart	Conservative
	18 January 1906	Gilbert McMicking	Liberal
	19 January 1910	Sir Mark John McTaggart-Stewart	Conservative
	December 1910	Gilbert McMicking	Liberal
1918		constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1885: Kirkcudbrightshire [1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark John Stewart	2,526	50.3
	Liberal	Alexander Young	2,406	49.7
Majority			120	0.6
Turnout				87.7
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

General Election 1886: Kirkcudbrightshire [2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark John Stewart	2,471	50.7	+0.4
	Liberal	Alexander Young	2,406	49.3	-0.4
Majority			65	1.4	+0.8
Turnout				85.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.4

Elections in the 1890s

General Election 1892: Kirkcudbrightshire [3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark John Stewart	2,485	50.3
	Liberal	Alexander Young	2,454	49.7
Majority			31	0.6
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1895: Kirkcudbrightshire [4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Mark John MacTaggart-Stewart	2,664	51.6	+1.3
	Liberal	John Archibald Duncan	2,494	48.4	-1.3
Majority			170	3.2	+2.6
Turnout				88.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.3

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1900: Kirkcudbrightshire [5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Mark John MacTaggart-Stewart	2,784	56.1
	Liberal	Robert Hippisley Cox	2,181	43.9
Majority			603	12.2
Turnout				84.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

G. McMicking

General Election 1906: Kirkcudbrightshire [6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Gilbert McMicking	2,715	52.9	+9.0
	Conservative	Sir Mark John MacTaggart-Stewart	2,418	47.1	-9.0
Majority			297	5.8	18.0
Turnout				88.1
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+9.0

Elections in the 1910s

General Election Jan 1910: Kirkcudbrightshire [7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Mark John MacTaggart-Stewart	2,661	50.4	+3.3
	Liberal	Gilbert McMicking	2,620	49.6	-3.3
Majority			41	0.8	6.6
Turnout				89.8
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+3.3

General Election Dec 1910: Kirkcudbrightshire [8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Gilbert McMicking	2,817	51.8	+2.2
	Conservative	Ronald John McNeill	2,625	48.2	-2.2
Majority			192	3.6	4.4
Turnout				91.3
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.2

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: Gilbert McMicking
• Unionist:

References

1. Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench, 1889
2. Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench, 1889
3. Whitaker's Almanack, 1893
4. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
5. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
6. Whitaker's Almanack, 1907
7. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916
8. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "K" (part 2)