Fife (UK Parliament constituency)

Fife was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1708 until 1885, when it was divided into East Fife and West Fife.

Fife
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
Major settlements	Fife
1708–1885
Seats	One
Created from	Fife
Replaced by	East Fife West Fife

Creation

The British parliamentary constituency was created in 1708 following the Acts of Union, 1707 and replaced the former Parliament of Scotland shire constituency of Fifeshire.

History

The constituency elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system until the seat was divided in 1885.^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]}

Boundaries

The constituency covered the county of Fife.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party	Notes
	1708	Patrick Moncreiff
	1709	Sir Robert Anstruther
	1710	Sir Alexander Erskine
	1715	Sir John Anstruther, 1st Baronet
	1741	David Scott
	1747	James Oswald
	1754	James St Clair
	1763	James Wemyss
	1768	John Scott
	1776	James Townsend Oswald
	1779	Robert Skene
	1780	John Henderson		5th Baronet from 1781
	1780	Robert Skene
	1787	William Wemyss
	1796	Sir William Erskine, Bt		British Army officer, died insane
	1806	Robert Ferguson
	1807	William Wemyss
	1820	James Erskine Wemyss	Whig[6][7]
	1831	James Lindsay	Tory[6]
	1832	James Erskine Wemyss	Whig[6][7]
	1847	John Fergus	Whig[8][6]
	1859	James Hay Erskine Wemyss	Liberal
	1864	Sir Robert Anstruther, 5th Baronet	Liberal
	1880	Robert Preston Bruce	Liberal

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Fife^[6][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	James Erskine Wemyss	Unopposed
Registered electors			239
	Whig hold

General election 1831: Fife^[6][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	James Lindsay (1793-1855)	85	55.6
	Whig	James Erskine Wemyss	68	44.4
Majority			17	11.2
Turnout			153	64.0
Registered electors			239
	Tory gain from Whig

General election 1832: Fife^[6][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	James Erskine Wemyss	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,185
	Whig gain from Tory

General election 1835: Fife^[6][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	James Erskine Wemyss	1,051	64.3
	Conservative	James Lindsay (1793-1855)	584	35.7
Majority			467	28.6
Turnout			1,635	70.8
Registered electors			2,309
	Whig hold

General election 1837: Fife^[6][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	James Erskine Wemyss	1,086	65.7	+1.4
	Conservative	James Bruce	567	34.3	−1.4
Majority			519	31.4	+2.8
Turnout			1,653	60.8	−10.0
Registered electors			2,720
	Whig hold		Swing	+1.4

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Fife^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	James Erskine Wemyss	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,967
	Whig hold

General election 1847: Fife^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Fergus	834	52.1	N/A
	Conservative	John Balfour[11]	768	47.9	New
Majority			66	4.2	N/A
Turnout			1,602	65.6	N/A
Registered electors			2,444
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Fife^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Fergus	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,211
	Whig hold

General election 1857: Fife^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Fergus	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,389
	Whig hold

General election 1859: Fife^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Hay Erskine Wemyss	1,087	56.1	N/A
	Conservative	Robert St Clair-Erskine	850	43.9	New
Majority			237	12.2	N/A
Turnout			1,937	47.8	N/A
Registered electors			4,056
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1860s

Wemyss's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 19 April 1864: Fife^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Anstruther	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General election 1865: Fife^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Anstruther	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,725
	Liberal hold

General election 1868: Fife^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Anstruther	1,837	62.0	N/A
	Liberal	John Boyd Kinnear	1,127	38.0	N/A
Majority			710	24.0	N/A
Turnout			2,964	70.5	N/A
Registered electors			4,206
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Fife^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Anstruther	1,859	60.2	−1.8
	Conservative	Frederick William Hamilton[12]	1,230	39.8	New
Majority			629	20.4	−3.6
Turnout			3,089	70.9	+0.4
Registered electors			4,358
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Fife^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Preston Bruce	2,421	63.8	+3.6
	Conservative	James Townsend Oswald[13]	1,373	36.2	−3.6
Majority			1,048	27.6	+7.2
Turnout			3,794	79.6	+8.7
Registered electors			4,767
	Liberal hold		Swing	+3.6

References

1. "Fifeshire". History of Parliament Online (1690-1715). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
2. "Fifeshire". History of Parliament Online (1715-1754). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
3. "Fifeshire". History of Parliament Online (1754-1790). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
4. "Fifeshire". History of Parliament Online (1790-1820). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
5. "Fifeshire". History of Parliament Online (1820-1832). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
6. Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. pp. 202, 205. Retrieved 11 September 2018 – via Google Books.
7. Churton, Edward (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer. p. 232. Retrieved 18 August 2019 – via Google Books.
8. "Greenock Advertiser". 6 August 1847. p. 2. Retrieved 11 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
9. Escott, Margaret. "Fifeshire". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
10. 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.
11. "To the Electors of the County of Fife". Fife Herald. 29 July 1847. p. 1. Retrieved 18 August 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
12. "General Hamilton's Meetings". Fife Herald. 12 February 1874. p. 2. Retrieved 30 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
13. "Representation of Fife". Fifeshire Advertiser. 10 April 1880. p. 2. Retrieved 20 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "F"