Kincardineshire
Kincardineshire, also known as
The Mearns (from
A' Mhaoirne meaning 'The Stewartry') was a
local government county of Scotland on the coast of northeast
Scotland. It was bounded by
Aberdeenshire on the north and west, and by
Angus on the south. The county town was originally the town of Kincardine (not, as many believe, the village of
Kincardine O Neil, which is in Aberdeenshire). The town of Kincardine, however, ceased to exist during the
Middle Ages. The only visible sign of its previous existence is the ruin of
Kincardine Castle. In 1296,
King John Balliol wrote a letter of surrender from the castle to
Edward I of England after a short war which marked the beginning of the wars of Scottish independence.
In modern times the
burgh of
Stonehaven became the
county town, and the county included three other burghs,
Banchory,
Inverbervie and
Laurencekirk.
The local government county was abolished in 1975, and was subsumed into the
Kincardine and Deeside district of the
Grampian region. When the Grampian region was divided into
unitary council areas in 1996, the district was absorbed into the
Aberdeenshire council area. The
Kincardineshire name is retained for a
lieutenancy area.
There was a
Kincardineshire constituency of the
House of Commons of the
Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918, representing the county of Kincadineshire, minus the
parliamentary burgh of
Inverbervie. Inverbervie was a component of the
Aberdeen Distirct of Burghs from 1708 to 1832 and of the
Montrose District of Burghs from 1832 to 1950.
In 1918 the Kincardineshire constituency was merged with part of the
Western Aberdeenshire constituency to form the
Kincardine and Western Aberdeenshire constituency.
In 1950 Kincardine and Western Aberdeenshire was divided between the
Aberdeenshire West constituency and the
North Angus and Mearns constituency. North Angus and Mearns then covered the whole of the county of Kincardineshire, including the former parliamentary burgh of Inverbervie, and part of the county of
Angus, the latter being previously within the
Forfarshire constituency.
In 1983, eight years after the abolition of the local government county of Kincardineshire, North Angus and Mearns was replaced by new constituencies.
*
Richard Henry Brunton, born in Kincardine
*
James Murdoch, born in Stonehaven
