St Andrews Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 56°17′06″N 3°01′08″W / 56.285°N 3.019°W

St Andrews Burghs
Former District of Burghs constituency for the House of Commons
Subdivisions of Scotland	Fife
1832–1918
Number of members	One
Replaced by	East Fife
Created from	Perth Burghs and Anstruther Burghs

St Andrews Burghs was a district of burghs constituency, representing various burghs of Fife, Scotland, in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, from 1832 to 1918.

Area covered

The constituency comprised the burghs of St Andrews, Anstruther Easter, Anstruther Wester, Crail, Cupar, Kilrenny and Pittenweem, all in the county of Fife. St Andrews and Cupar had previously been part of Perth Burghs, and the other burghs part of Anstruther Burghs.

In 1918 the constituency was abolished, and the burghs were thereafter represented as part of the East Fife constituency.

Member of Parliament

Year		Member [1]	Party
	1832	Andrew Johnston	Liberal
	1837	Edward Ellice	Liberal
	1880	Stephen Williamson	Liberal
	1885	Sir Robert Anstruther	Liberal
	1886	Henry Torrens Anstruther	Liberal Unionist
	1903	Edward Charles Ellice	Liberal
	1906	William Anstruther-Gray	Liberal Unionist
	1910	James Duncan Millar	Liberal
	1910	William Anstruther-Gray	Liberal Unionist
	1912		Unionist
	1918	constituency abolished

Election results

At the General Election 1868 Edward Ellice was returned unopposed.^[2]

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1885: St Andrews Burghs^[3][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Sir Robert Anstruther, 5th Baronet	1,256	50.0
	Liberal	Stephen Williamson	1,256	50.0
Majority			0	0.0
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing

On scrutiny, Sir Robert Anstruther awarded the seat

Brassey

General Election 1886: St Andrews Burghs^[3][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Unionist	Henry Torrens Anstruther	1,132
	Liberal	Sir Thomas Brassey	716
Majority			416
Turnout
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

Elections in the 1890s

General Election 1892: St Andrews Burghs^[5][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Unionist	Henry Torrens Anstruther	1,066
	Liberal	James Martin White	954
Majority			112
Turnout
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1895: St Andrews Burghs^[6][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Unionist	Henry Torrens Anstruther	1,185
	Liberal	John Paton	989
Majority			196
Turnout
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1900s

Annand

General Election January 1900^[7][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Unionist	Henry Torrens Anstruther	1,148	51.2
	Liberal	James Annand	1,094	48.8
Majority			54	2.4
Turnout
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing

St Andrews Burghs by-election, 1903^[7][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Edward Charles Ellice	1,324	50.7	+1.9
	Liberal Unionist	William Anstruther-Thomson	1,288	49.3	-1.9
Turnout
Majority			36	1.4	3.8
	Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist		Swing	+1.9

General Election January 1906^[7][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Unionist	William Anstruther-Gray	1,495	50.4	+1.1
	Liberal	Edward Charles Ellice	1,472	49.6	-1.1
Majority			23	0.8	2.2
Turnout
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

Duncan Millar

General Election Jan 1910: St Andrews Burghs^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	James Duncan Millar	1,507
	Liberal Unionist	William Anstruther-Gray	1,469
Majority
Turnout
	Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist		Swing

General Election Dec 1910: St Andrews Burghs^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Unionist	William Anstruther-Gray	1,675
	Liberal	James Duncan Millar	1,626
Majority
Turnout
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

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 the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Unionist: William Anstruther-Gray
• Liberal: Henry Jackson^[9]

References

1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 1)
2. Debrett's House of Commons 1870
3. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1889
4. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
5. Whitaker's Almanack, 1893
6. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
7. British parliamentary election results 1885-1918 by Craig
8. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916
9. Dundee Courier 9 Jan 1914