District of burghs facts for kids
The "districts of burghs" were a special way that towns in Scotland chose their representatives for the UK Parliament in London. This system started after the Act of Union 1707, which joined Scotland and England to form Great Britain.
Before 1707, Scotland had its own parliament. When it joined with England, Scotland was given 14 Members of Parliament (MPs). Most of these MPs were chosen from groups of towns, called "districts of burghs." A "burgh" was an old Scottish term for a town that had special rights.
Each district of burghs would elect one MP. The only exception was Edinburgh, which was big enough to have its own MP. The towns in a district were not always close to each other.
For a long time, until 1832, the town councils in each burgh would choose a person, called a commissioner. This commissioner would then vote for the MP. One town in the district, called the "Returning Burgh," had an extra vote if there was a tie.
Things changed with the Scottish Reform Act 1832. This law changed which towns were in which districts. It also meant that the boundaries of a town for voting purposes were not always the same as its normal town boundaries. More people were allowed to vote, and all their votes from different towns in a district were added together.
There were more changes over the years, with new laws in 1868, 1885, and 1918. These laws changed how many districts there were and which towns belonged to them.
The system of "districts of burghs" finally ended in 1949. However, the word "Burghs" was still used in the names of some voting areas until 1974.
Even today, the idea of "burgh constituencies" (voting areas for towns) is still around. These are different from "county constituencies" (voting areas for rural areas). This difference is important for how much money election candidates are allowed to spend.
Contents
How Districts Changed Over Time
The way these districts and towns were grouped together changed a lot over the years. Here's a quick look at how many districts and towns there were during different periods:
1708 to 1832
During this time, there were 14 districts, and they included 65 different towns.
- Aberdeen Burghs (5 towns)
- Anstruther Easter Burghs (5 towns)
- Ayr Burghs (5 towns)
- Dumfries Burghs (5 towns)
- Dysart Burghs (4 towns)
- Elgin Burghs (5 towns)
- Glasgow Burghs (4 towns)
- Haddington Burghs (5 towns)
- Inverness Burghs (4 towns)
- Linlithgow Burghs (4 towns)
- Perth Burghs (5 towns)
- Stirling Burghs (5 towns)
- Tain Burghs (5 towns)
- Wigtown Burghs (4 towns)
1832 to 1868
The number of districts stayed at 14, but they now included 69 towns.
- Ayr Burghs (5 towns)
- Dumfries Burghs (5 towns)
- Elgin Burghs (6 towns)
- Falkirk Burghs (5 towns)
- Haddington Burghs (5 towns)
- Inverness Burghs (4 towns)
- Kilmarnock Burghs (5 towns)
- Kirkcaldy Burghs (4 towns)
- Leith Burghs (3 towns)
- Montrose Burghs (5 towns)
- St Andrews Burghs (7 towns)
- Stirling Burghs (5 towns)
- Wick Burghs (6 towns)
- Wigtown Burghs (4 towns)
1868 to 1885
There were 15 districts and 72 towns in total.
- Ayr Burghs (5 towns)
- Dumfries Burghs (5 towns)
- Elgin Burghs (6 towns)
- Falkirk Burghs (5 towns)
- Haddington Burghs (5 towns)
- Inverness Burghs (4 towns)
- Hawick Burghs (3 towns)
- Kilmarnock Burghs (5 towns)
- Kirkcaldy Burghs (4 towns)
- Leith Burghs (3 towns)
- Montrose Burghs (5 towns)
- St Andrews Burghs (7 towns)
- Stirling Burghs (5 towns)
- Wick Burghs (6 towns)
- Wigtown Burghs (4 towns)
1885 to 1918
The number of districts went down to 13, covering 62 towns.
- Ayr Burghs (5 towns)
- Dumfries Burghs (5 towns)
- Elgin Burghs (6 towns)
- Falkirk Burghs (5 towns)
- Hawick Burghs (3 towns)
- Inverness Burghs (4 towns)
- Kilmarnock Burghs (5 towns)
- Kirkcaldy Burghs (4 towns)
- Leith Burghs (3 towns)
- Montrose Burghs (5 towns)
- St Andrews Burghs (7 towns)
- Stirling Burghs (5 towns)
- Wick Burghs (6 towns)
1918 to 1950
By this time, there were only 6 districts left, with 26 towns.
- Ayr Burghs (6 towns)
- Dumbarton Burghs (2 towns)
- Dunfermline Burghs (4 towns)
- Kirkcaldy Burghs (6 towns)
- Montrose Burghs (5 towns)
- Stirling & Falkirk Burghs (3 towns)
See also
