Dysart Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)


Dysart Burghs was a district of burghs constituency of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It elected one Member of Parliament.

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 Burntisland, Dysart, Kinghorn and Kirkcaldy.

Boundaries

The constituency consisted of the burghs of Burntisland, Dysart, Kinghorn and Kirkcaldy, all in the county of Fife. It had just four voters, the commissioners elected by the four burgh councils. The place of election rotated between the burghs and the host burgh had a casting vote if there was a tie.

History

The constituency elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system until 1832.
For the 1832 general election, under the Representation of the People Act 1832, the constituency was renamed Kirkcaldy Burghs, the boundaries of the burghs for parliamentary purposes ceased to be those for other purposes, and the voting system was changed.

Members of Parliament

Elections

The first election in Dysart Burghs was in 1708. In 1707–08, members of the 1702–1707 Parliament of Scotland were co-opted to serve in the 1st Parliament of Great Britain. See Scottish representatives to the 1st Parliament of Great Britain for further details.
The most populous of the burghs was Kirkcaldy. The Oswald family became the dominant force in Kirkcaldy politics in the 18th century.
The second largest burgh was Dysart, controlled by the St. Clair interest.
Burntisland and Kinghorn were smaller. The votes from these burghs seem to have been available to the highest bidder.
The combined Oswald and St. Clair influence often decided who was to be elected, but in 1774 a rich outsider bribed his way into Parliament, to the surprise of the incumbent J.T. Oswald.
The most prominent political figure, during the time he represented the constituency, was the second James Oswald. He was seen as a reliable man of business and held a number of junior ministerial offices. At one point he was even being thought of as a possible Chancellor of the Exchequer, but being Scottish counted against Oswald. The Prime Minister, the Earl of Bute was extremely unpopular with English opinion in the early 1760s, so promoting another Scot was thought too risky.
Sir James St.Clair-Erskine was more important later in his career when in 1834–35, as 2nd Earl of Rosslyn, he served as Lord President of the Council.
Note:
Stooks Smith refers to a by-election in December 1709, won by Patterson but does not mention Abercromby. Leigh Rayment's site does not mention Patterson, but has James Abercromby as MP from 16 January 1710. Possibly there was an undocumented contested election.