Freeholders

Before 1832 members of parliament for counties were elected solely by freeholders, whose qualification was the tenure of land to the value of 40 shillings of Old Extent or properties or superiorities with a valued rent of £400 Scots. The County Franchise Act 1681 required a roll of freeholders to be made up and revised annually.[1] There were anomalies in Sutherland and these were recognised in an Act of 1743 which gave the vote to freeholders holding land valued at £200 Scots.[2] The Representation of the People Act 1832 altered the franchise and prevented the creation of new freeholders but preserved the voting rights of existing freeholders for their lifetimes.[3]

The records of freeholders’ meetings are generally found among sheriff court records, held by the National Records of Scotland, but some freeholders’ material can be found among county council records held by local authority archives or libraries.

Editors:  David Brown (National Records of Scotland, 2021) & Elspeth Reid (2021)

Bibliography

Ferguson, William, ‘The Electoral System in the Scottish Counties before 1832’ in Miscellany Two ed. by David Sellar (Stair Society, 1984), pp. 261-94.

Adam, Sir Charles Elphinstone, View of the Political State of Scotland in the Last Century (Edinburgh, 1887)

 

References

[1] Act concerning the election of commissioners for shires, 1681. The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707, ed. by K.M. Brown and others (University of St Andrews, 2007-2021), 1681/7/45 <http://rps.ac.uk/trans/1681/7/45> [accessed 19 May 2021].

[2] Act 1743 (16 Geo. II c.11) effective from 1745.

[3] Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1832 (2 & 3 Will. IV c.65).