List of elections of Scottish representative peers

After the Acts of Union 1707, the peerage of Scotland elected sixteen of their number, the Scottish representative peers, to sit in the House of Lords at Westminster. General elections were held with each Parliament, and by-elections to fill vacancies in between. The elections ceased after the Peerage Act 1963 granted all peers of Scotland a hereditary seat in the House of Lords.

The first election of Scottish representative peers took place on 15 February 1707 at the Parliament House, Edinburgh, shortly before the Parliament of Scotland was adjourned for the last time on 25 March. The commissioners for the barons and the burghs chose their representatives to the British House of Commons at the same time.Fergusson, Sixteen Peers, pp. 16–17.

The elections were not without controversy: in November 1708, four Scottish peers - William Johnstone, 1st Marquess of Annandale, John Earl of Sutherland, Patrick Earl of Marchmont, and William Lord Rosse - presented a petition in the House of Lords complaining of irregularities in the voting which they claimed had led to them being unfairly outvoted by William Kerr, 3rd Marquess of Lothian, and the Earls of Wemyss, Loudoun, and Glasgow. After taking evidence and legal advice, and ordering a recount of votes, the House of Lords resolved on 3 February 1709, to remove the Marquess of Lothian, and replace him with the Marquess of Annandale.

List of elections since the Union DateGeneral orby-electionPlaceReturning officersNumber ofpeers present17 June 1708GPalace of HolyroodhouseTwo Clerks of Session5710 November 1710G4914 August 1712B3213 January 1713B258 October 1713G363 March 1715G4328 February 1716B181 June 1721B2221 April 1722G4215 August 1722B1813 June 1723B1320 September 1727G3317 November 1730B2319 February 1731B1728 January 1732B1721 September 1733B374 June 1734GBurgh Room6022 October 1736B3314 April 1737B2114 March 1738B2122 March 1739B2013 June 1741GCourt of Exchequer3730 April 1742BPalace of Holyroodhouse2412 October 1744B171 August 1747G3315 March 1750B259 July 1752B2616 November 1752B2321 May 1754G365 May 1761G3912 August 1761B228 March 1763B2021 August 1766B231 October 1767B2826 April 1768G3721 December 1768B1717 January 1770B232 January 1771B2815 November 1774G3424 January 1776B1313 June 1776B1314 November 1776B1524 September 1778B1517 October 1780G2624 July 1782B148 May 1784G4028 March 1787B1910 January 1788B1824 July 1790G337 August 1793B1323 October 1794B1130 June 1796G2515 August 1798B1110 August 1802G2916 June 1803B1314 November 1804B154 December 1806G189 June 1807G2013 November 1812G2917 April 1817B1324 July 1818G2718 March 1819B1011 April 1820G212 August 1821B102 October 1823B118 July 1824B62 June 1825B813 July 1826G2510 April 1828B102 September 1830G213 June 1831G3014 January 1833G3110 February 1835G2425 August 1837G185 August 1841G2119 January 1842B819 July 1843B817 March 1847B98 September 1847G1613 March 1850B116 August 1851B1115 July 1852GFour Clerks of Session197 September 1853B1616 November 1853B1014 April 1857G1829 June 1858BTwo Clerks of Session1110 May 1859G1915 November 1860B1528 July 1865GLord Clerk Register(Sir William Gibson-Craig)2421 March 1867B927 November 1867B73 December 1868G187 July 1869B24 August 1870B77 March 1872B818 February 1874G2022 December 1876B1811 March 1879BLord Clerk Register(The Earl of Glasgow)2416 April 1880G2611 January 1882B1517 February 1885B1710 June 1885B410 December 1885G264 February 1886B725 March 1886B820 July 1886G1510 January 1889BDeputy Clerk Register (Stair Agnew)76 January 1890BLord Clerk Register1510 December 1891BLord Clerk Register(the Duke of Montrose)1214 July 1892G1618 July 1894B1024 July 1895G125 October 1900GDeputy Clerk Register (Sir Stair Agnew)1730 January 1906GLord Clerk Register258 November 1906BTwo Clerks of Session328 January 1910GLord Clerk Register1915 December 1910G1510 October 1917B1220 December 1918G1413 January 1922G1716 November 1922G2010 December 1923G163 November 1924G2331 May 1929GLord Clerk Register(the Duke of Buccleuch)2729 October 1931G1915 November 1935GPrincipal Clerk of Session258 January 1941BLord Clerk Register(the Earl of Mar and Kellie)96 July 1945GLord Clerk Register(the Lord Elphinstone)121 July 1947B1221 February 1950G2623 October 1951G232 April 1952B1423 May 1955GParliament House321 September 1958BPalace of HolyroodhouseLord Clerk Register(the Duke of Buccleuch)186 October 1959G25

References Sir James Fergusson, The Sixteen Peers of Scotland (Oxford University Press, 1960) Appendix D, pp. 162–166.