Anstruther Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)

Anstruther Burghs was a district of burghs constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1800 and of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832.

Anstruther Burghs
Former burgh constituency for the House of Commons
Subdivisions of Scotland	County of Fife
Major settlements	Anstruther Easter, Anstruther Wester, Pittenweem, Crail, Kilrenny
1708–1832
Seats	1
Created from	Anstruther Easter, Anstruther Wester, Crail, Kilrenny, Pittenweem
Replaced by	St Andrews Burghs

It elected one Member of Parliament (MP).

Creation

The British parliamentary constituency was created in 1708 following the Acts of Union 1707 and replaced the former Parliament of Scotland burgh constituencies of Anstruther Easter, Anstruther Wester, Crail, Kilrenny and Pittenweem.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Boundaries

The constituency comprised the burghs of Anstruther Easter, Anstruther Wester, Pittenweem, Crail, and Kilrenny, in the county of Fife.

In 1832, the burghs were combined with the Fife burghs of Cupar and St Andrews, which were previously components of Perth Burghs, to form St Andrews Burghs.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party [6]	!Notes
	1708	Sir John Anstruther, 1st Bt
	1712	George Hamilton
	1713	Sir John Anstruther, 1st Bt
	1715	Philip Anstruther
	1741	John Stewart
	1747	Philip Anstruther I		Lieutenant-governor of Menorca 1742–1743
	1754	Sir Henry Erskine, 5th Bt
	1766 by-election	Sir John Anstruther, 2nd Bt
	1774	Philip Anstruther II		Later 3rd Baronet
	1778 by-election	Hon. George Damer		Chief Secretary for Ireland 1794–1795
	1780	Sir John Anstruther, 2nd Bt
	1783 by-election	John Anstruther
	1790	Sir John Anstruther, 2nd Bt
	1793 by-election	Robert Anstruther
	1794 by-election	William Dundas
	1796	John Anstruther	Whig	MP for Cockermouth 1790–1796
	1797 by-election	Alexander Campbell
	1806	Sir John Anstruther, 4th Bt
	1811 by-election	John Anstruther
	Feb 1818 by-election	Alexander Maconochie		previously MP for Yarmouth, Isle of Wight
	1819 by-election	Sir William Rae, 3rd Bt	Tory	later MP for Harwich, Buteshire and Portarlington
	1826	James Balfour	Tory[7]
	1831	Andrew Johnston	Whig[8]	afterwards MP for St Andrews Burghs
	1832	constituency abolished. See St Andrews Burghs

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1831: Anstruther Burghs^[5][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Andrew Johnston	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 92
	Whig gain from Tory

General election 1830: Anstruther Burghs^[5][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	James Balfour	3	75.0
	Non Partisan	Robert Bullock Marsham	1	25.0
Majority			2	50.0
Turnout			4	c. 4.3
Registered electors			c. 92
	Tory hold		Swing

References

1. "Anstruther Burghs". History of Parliament Online (1690-1715). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
2. "Anstruther Burghs". History of Parliament Online (1715-1754). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
3. "Anstruther Burghs". History of Parliament Online (1754-1790). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
4. "Anstruther Burghs". History of Parliament Online (1790-1820). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
5. "Anstruther Burghs". History of Parliament Online (1820-1832). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
6. Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844–1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 628–629. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.
7. Fisher, David R. "BALFOUR, James (c.1775-1845), of Whittinghame, Haddington; Balgonie, Fife, and 3 Grosvenor Square, Mdx". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
8. Fisher, David R. "JOHNSTON, Andrew (1798-1862), of Rennyhill, Fife". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
9. Cook, Chris; Stevenson, John (1980). British Historical Facts 1760-1830. Basingstoke: Palgrave. p. 58. doi:10.1007/978-1-137-06465-3. ISBN 978-1-137-06465-3. Retrieved 7 May 2020 – via Google Books.

Sources

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