Ayrshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1800 and of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 until 1868, when it was divided into North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire.
It elected one Member of Parliament (MP), using the first-past-the-post voting system.
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 Ayrshire.
Boundaries
The Ayrshire constituency represented the county of Ayrshire, minus the parliamentary burghs of Ayr and Irvine, which were components of the Ayr Burghs constituency.
History
The constituency elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system until it was divided into North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire for the 1868 general election.
Members of Parliament
{| class = "wikitable"
|-
!colspan="2" | Election !! Member !! Party
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white;width:0.5pt" |
|1708
| Francis Montgomerie
|
|-
|rowspan="4" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|1710
|rowspan="4"| John Montgomerie
|rowspan="4"|
|-
|1713
|-
|1715
|-
|1722
|-
|rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|1727
|rowspan="3"| James Campbell
|rowspan="3"| Whig
|-
|1734
|-
|1741
|-
|rowspan="1" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|1747
|rowspan="1"| Patrick Craufurd
|rowspan="1"|
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|1754
| James Mure-Campbell, later Earl of Loudoun
|
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|1761
| Archibald Montgomerie, later Earl of Eglinton
| Whig
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|1768
| David Kennedy, later Earl of Cassillis
|
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|1774
| Sir Adam Fergusson
|
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|1780
| Hugh Montgomerie, later Earl of Eglinton
|
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|1781
|Sir Adam Fergusson
|
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|1784
| Hugh Montgomerie, later Earl of Eglinton
|
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|1789
|William McDowall
|
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|1790
| Sir Adam Fergusson
|
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|1796
|Hugh Montgomerie, later Earl of Eglinton
|
|-
|rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|1796
|rowspan="3"| William Fullarton
|rowspan="3"| Whig
|-
|1801
|-
|1802
|-
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|1803
|rowspan="2"| Sir Hew Dalrymple-Hamilton
|rowspan="2"|
|-
|1806
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|1807
| David Boyle
|
|-
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|1811
|rowspan="2"| Sir Hew Dalrymple-Hamilton
|rowspan="2"|
|-
|1812
|-
|rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|1818
|rowspan="3"| James Montgomerie
|rowspan="3"| Tory
|-
|1820
|-
|1826
|-
|rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|1829
|rowspan="3"| William Blair
|rowspan="3"| Tory
|-
|1830
|-
|1831
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|1832
| Richard Alexander Oswald
| Whig
|-
|1837
|-
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|1839
|rowspan="2"| Viscount Kelburn, later Earl of Glasgow
|rowspan="2"| Conservative
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|1859
|Liberal
|-
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|1859
|rowspan="2"| Sir James Fergusson
|rowspan="2"| Conservative
|-
|1865
|}
Election results
Elections in the 1830s
Elections in the 1840s
Blair's death caused a by-election.
Elections in the 1860s
References
See also
- Former United Kingdom Parliament constituencies