Peeblesshire

Peeblesshire (Siorrachd nam Pùballan in Gaelic), the County of Peebles or Tweeddale is a historic county of Scotland. Its county town is Peebles, and it borders Midlothian to the north, Selkirkshire to the east, Dumfriesshire to the south, and Lanarkshire to the west.

After the local government reorganisation of 1975 the county lost its administrative status, and the area was governed as the district of Tweeddale.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of the county, which was matriculated by the Lord Lyon in 1931, ia as follows: Quarterly, 1st sable five fraises (strawberry leaves) argent; 2nd azure, a horse's head couped argent; 3rd vert, a fleece or; 4th or, fretty gules, on a chief embattled of the last, two thunderbolts of the first. The arms are supported by two salmon proper, and the crest is a Border cavalryman. The motto is ONWARD TWEEDDALE. The first quarter is the arms of Fraser of Oliver Castle, a prominent local laird; the second, that of Horsburgh, another prominent local laird; the third, a reference to the area's wool industry; and the fourth, that of M. G. (later Sir Michael) Thorburn of Glenormiston, who was sheriff of Peebles at the time of the arms' matriculation.

Peeblesshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Peeblesshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (Westminster) from 1708 until 1868. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system.

Boundaries

The name relates the constituency to the county of Peebles. Article XII of the Union with Scotland Act 1706 (Act settling the Manner of electing the Representatives of Scotland), provided that one representative should be chosen for every shire and steuartry (except for some shires which were to take turns).

This arrangement was continued by the Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1832.

The Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1868 abolished the rights of the counties of Peebles and Selkirk to return a member, and provided that those counties should jointly return a member, thereby establishing the Peebles and Selkirk constituency.

Members of Parliament

References

Peeblesshire (Parliament of Scotland constituency)

Before the Acts of Union 1707, the barons of the shire of Peebles elected commissioners to represent them in the unicameral Parliament of Scotland and in the Convention of the Estates.

From 1708 Peeblesshire was represented by one Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Great Britain.

List of shire commissioners

References

See also