Scottish representatives to the first Parliament of Great Britain

The Scottish representatives to the first Parliament of Great Britain, serving from 1 May 1707 to 26 May 1708, were not elected like their colleagues from England and Wales, but rather hand-picked.

The forty five men sent to London in 1707, to the House of Commons of the 1st Parliament of Great Britain, were co-opted from the Commissioners of the newly adjourned Parliament of Scotland (see List of constituencies in the Parliament of Scotland at the time of the Union).

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Under the Treaty of Union of the Two Kingdoms of England and Scotland it was provided:

"III. THAT the United Kingdom of Great Britain be Represented by one and the same Parliament to be stiled the Parliament of Great Britain.

...

XXII. THAT ... A Writ do issue ... Directed to the Privy Council of Scotland, Commanding them to Cause ... forty five Members to be elected to sit in the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain ... in such manner as by a subsequent Act of the present session of the Parliament of Scotland shall be settled ... And that ... the members of the House of Commons of the said Parliament of England and the forty five Members for Scotland ... shall be ... the first Parliament of Great Britain ..."

The Parliament of Scotland duly passed an Act settling the manner of electing the sixteen peers and forty five commoners to represent Scotland in the initial Parliament of Great Britain. A special provision for the 1st Parliament of Great Britain was "that the Sixteen Peers and Forty five Commissioners for Shires and Burghs shall be chosen by the Peers, Barrons and Burghs respectively in this present session of Parliament and out of the members thereof in the same manner that Committees of Parliament are usually now chosen shall be the members of the respective Houses of the said first Parliament of Great Britain for and on the part of Scotland ..."

The Kingdom of Great Britain came into existence on 1 May 1707.

Dates of the Parliament

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Election: The members of the last House of Commons of England had been elected between 7 May 1705 and 6 June 1705. The last general election in pre-Union Scotland was in 1703.

First meeting and maximum legal term: Parliament first met on 23 October 1707. The Parliament was due to expire, if not sooner dissolved, at the end of the term of three years from the first meeting of the last Parliament of England, which would have been on 14 June 1708.

Dissolution: The 1st Parliament of Great Britain was dissolved on 3 April 1708.

Selection of members from Scotland

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Scotland was entitled to 45 members in the new House of Commons. The Scottish legislation prescribed the constituencies from which the members of the Commons from Scotland were in future to be elected. These constituencies were first used in the election of 1708 to the 2nd Parliament.

Of the 45 members returned to the Parliament of Great Britain, 30 were Shire Commissioners and 15 were Burgh Commissioners.

Members of Parliament returned for Scotland (1707–1708)

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Name Birth Death Former constituency Party
Alexander Abercromby 1678 1729 Banffshire Court
The Hon. Sir David Dalrymple, 1st Bt c. 1665 1721 Culross Court
The Hon. William Dalrymple 1678 1744 Ayrshire Court
Sir William Kerr, 3rd Bt 1716 Roxburghshire Squadrone
The Hon. Sir Kenneth Mackenzie, 3rd Bt c. 1658 1728 Cromartyshire Court
Hugh Rose 1663 1732 Nairnshire Court
James Scott 1671 1732 Montrose Court
The Hon. Alexander Maitland 1721 Inverbervie Court
William Seton of Pitmedden, 2nd Bt 1673 1744 Aberdeenshire Court (Squadrone?)
Sir George Allardice of Allardice 1672 1709 Kintore Court
Sir Alexander Douglas 1718 Orkney and Shetland Court
Patrick Moncreiff c. 1674 1709 Kinghorn Court
Sir James Smollett c. 1648 1731 Dumbarton Court
George Baillie 1664 1738 Lanarkshire Squadrone
Archibald Douglas c. 1667 1741 Roxburghshire Court
The Hon. Francis Montgomerie by 1729 Ayrshire Court
The Hon. John Stewart after 1670 1748 Wigtownshire Court
Sir William Bennet, 2nd Bt 1729 Roxburghshire Court
Mungo Graham 1670 1754 Perthshire Squadrone
Sir Hugh Montgomerie, 6th Bt c. 1663 1735 Glasgow Court (Anti-Union)
Sir John Swinton before 1662 1723 Berwickshire Court
John Bruce 1711 Kinross-shire Squadrone
Alexander Grant after 1673 1719 Inverness-shire Court
William Morison 1663 1739 Peeblesshire Court
Sir Thomas Burnett, 3rd Bt after 1656 1714 Kincardineshire Court
Sir John Haldane, 11th Laird of Gleneagles 1660 1721 Perthshire Squadrone
John Murray c. 1667 1714 Selkirkshire Court
Daniel Campbell c. 1672 1753 Inveraray Court
Sir Peter Halkett, 1st Bt c. 1660 1746 Dunfermline Squadrone
William Nisbet c. 1666 1724 Haddingtonshire Squadrone
Sir James Campbell, 5th Bt c. 1679 1756 Argyllshire Court
James Halyburton by 1755 Forfarshire Squadrone
The Hon. Patrick Ogilvy 1665 1737 Cullen Court
James Campbell c. 1666 1752 Argyllshire Court
The Hon. Sir Andrew Hume (Lord Kimmerghame) 1676 1730 Kirkcudbright Squadrone
Sir Robert Pollock, 1st Bt c. 1665 1735 Renfrewshire Court
The Hon. John Campbell c. 1660 1729 Argyllshire Court
Sir John Johnstone, 1st Bt 1711 Dumfriesshire Court
John Pringle c. 1674 1754 Selkirkshire Court
John Clerk 1676 1755 Whithorn Court
Sir Patrick Johnstone 1736 Edinburgh Court
Sir David Ramsay, 4th Bt after 1673 1710 Kincardineshire Independent (Anti-Union)
John Cockburn c. 1679 1758 Haddingtonshire Squadrone
Sir John Erskine, 3rd Bt 1672 1739 Burntisland Squadrone
John Erskine 1660 1733 Stirling Court

References

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See also

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