Dumfriesshire was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of Great Britain (at Westminster) from 1708 to 1801 and in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (also at Westminster) from 1801 until 2005. It was known as Dumfries from 1950.

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 Dumfries & Annandale.

History The constituency was virtually unchanged until it was redistributed in 2005. It was redistributed to Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale and Dumfries and Galloway as part of a major reorganisation of Scottish constituencies. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system.

Boundaries From 1885 to 1918 it comprised the shire districts of the county.Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916 From 1918 all the burghs were added.Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1922

Members of Parliament

MPs 1708–1832 YearMemberParty 1708 James Johnstone 1709 William Grierson 1711 James Murray Tory 1713 Sir William Johnstone 1722 Charles Erskine 1741 Sir John Douglas 1747 Lord Charles Douglas 1755 James Veitch 1761 Lt Gen Archibald Douglas 1774 Sir Robert Laurie 1804 Sir William Johnstone Hope Tory 1830 John Hope-Johnstone Tory 1832Reform Act 1832: franchise expanded

MPs 1832–2005

ElectionMemberParty 1832 John Hope-Johnstone (1) Conservative 1847 Archibald Douglas Conservative Feb 1857 John Hope-Johnstone (1) Conservative 1865 George Gustavus Walker Conservative 1868 Sydney Waterlow Liberal Mar. 1869 George Gustavus Walker Conservative 1874 John Hope-Johnstone (2) Conservative 1880 Sir Robert Jardine Liberal 1886 Liberal Unionist 1892 William Herries Maxwell Liberal Unionist 1895 Robinson Souttar Liberal 1900 William Herries Maxwell Liberal Unionist 1906 Percy Molteno Liberal 1918 William Murray Unionist 1922 William Chapple Liberal 1924 John Charteris Unionist 1929 Dr Joseph Hunter 1 Liberal 1931 National Liberal 1935 by-election Sir Henry Fildes National Liberal 1945 Niall Macpherson National Liberal 1963 by-election David Anderson Conservative 1964 Sir Hector Monro Conservative 1997 Russell Brown Labour 2005constituency abolished

1 Dr Hunter was elected in 1929 as a Liberal candidate, but in the split after the 1931 general election, he joined the National Liberals.

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

Elections in the 1840s

Elections in the 1850s

Douglas was appointed Comptroller of the Household, requiring a by-election.

Douglas succeeded to the peerage, becoming 8th Marquess of Queensberry and causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1860s

Waterlow was disqualified, owing to holding a government contract at the time of the election, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1870s

Elections in the 1880s

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1910s

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 July 1914, the following candidates had been selected; Liberal: Unionist: William T. ShawNewcastle Journal 20 February 1914

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1940s

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 2000s

References