County

The interest of John Campbell I of Cawdor, described in 1800 as ‘the political overlord’ of Nairnshire,Carm. RO, 1 Cawdor 130, Cumming Gordon to C. Greville, 4 Nov. 1800. was territorially and numerically superior to any other.

Sir William Cunynghame of Livingstone, Member since 1774, had survived a contest organized against him by Henry Dundas in 1784, in which Capt. George Dundas of Dundas was his opponent. As an avowed Whig, he was again a target in 1790, when Henry Dundas put up a much stronger candidate, his future brother-in-law John Hope, brother and heir of James, 3rd Earl of Hopetoun, whose interest in the county had originally guaranteed Cunynghame’s return and was now combined with that of the Dundases of Dundas against Cunynghame.

The predominant interest was that of Archibald, 8th Duke of Hamilton, restored in 1774 and unchallenged since. While the duke repeatedly complained of Pitt’s neglect of his applications for local patronage, his nominee Sir James Steuart Denham was, in the view of both, a uniform supporter of Pitt’s administration.PRO 30/8/129, f. 119; 141, ff.

The balance of interests in the Stewartry was so fine that in 1784 there was a tripartite pact whereby Peter Johnston; James Murray of Broughton and Cally; and Alexander Stewart of the Castle Stewart family agreed to share the Parliament. It broke down because shortly before Johnston was due to make way for Murray, Murray eloped with Johnston’s sister.

In 1788 the controlling interest was reported to be in George Graham of Kinross House who, having purchased that estate in 1777, had come in for the county in the Parliament of 1780 and was expected to do the same at the next general election: ‘The county is a small one, and the greater part of it belongs to Mr Graham in property and superiority’. Out of 26 voters, 16 were then attributed to Graham, though several of them were dubious life-renters. The next interest was that of John Adam of Blair, father of the Whig politician William Adam of Downhill.

In 1790 the leading interest in Kincardineshire was that of Francis Garden of Troup, SCJ (Lord Gardenstone), who had a substantial following among the resident ‘independent’ proprietors. Robert Barclay Allardice of Urie, who had been returned with the support of Gardenstone and government in 1788, was re-elected without opposition. Gardenstone died in 1793, but there was no disturbance in 1796.

The second half of the 18th century saw a great multiplication of nominal votes in Inverness-shire. Those mainly responsible were the 4th Duke of Gordon, whose brother Lord William Gordon won the seat in 1784, and Gen. Simon Fraser of Lovat, chief of his clan, who had occupied it for over 20 years until his death in 1782. When Lawrence Hill surveyed the situation he accorded Gordon the numerically dominant interest, with 31 votes.

Although there were numerous freeholders and no commanding interests, the county proved amenable to management almost throughout the period and there was no actual contest. John Hamilton of Pencaitland, the sitting Member in 1790, was married to Henry Dundas’s niece and was supported by the Earls of Haddington and Hopetoun, the leading local ministerialists, who were allied by marriage.Pol. State of Scotland 1788, p.

The half century of supremacy enjoyed by William Maule of Kellie, 1st Earl of Panmure, ended with his death in 1782, when the seat was captured by Archibald Douglas of Douglas, who proved to be a steady supporter of Pitt. Panmure’s extensive estates passed under entail in 1787 to his 16-year-old great-nephew William Maule, younger son of the 8th Earl of Dalhousie.

As there were few great estates and a large number of ‘individuals’ in Fifeshire, none of them commanding more than seven votes, the opposition survey of the county in 1788 concluded that ‘the minister must have great weight’: but there were also many contenders for the county seat.