Sheriff of Ross, Cromarty and Sutherland explained

The Sheriff of Ross, Cromarty and Sutherland was historically responsible for enforcing law and order in Ross-shire, Cromartyshire and Sutherland in Scotland.

The area was part of the shire of Inverness from the 12th century. A Sheriff of Cromarty existed from the mid-13th century, initially with a relatively small jurisdiction around the town of Cromarty, subsequently enlarged in the late 17th century to include various other tracts of land scattered across the province of Ross. There are a couple of references to a Sheriff of Ross in the 15th century, but the position was not permanently established until 1662, after an act of parliament of 1661 separated Ross-shire from Inverness-shire.

The two counties shared a sheriff from 1748, known as the Sheriff of Ross and Cromarty. From 1870 the sheriff was also shared with the neighbouring county of Sutherland, becoming the Sheriff of Ross, Cromarty and Sutherland. Following a further reorganisation in 1946 it became the Sheriff of Inverness, Moray, Nairn & Ross & Cromarty.

Sheriffs of Cromarty

The position of the sheriff of Cromarty was a heritable position.

• William de Monte Alto (1266)
• William de Monte Alto (1296-1304), (1305-?)
• William III, Earl of Ross (c. 1345)
• Adam Urquhart (1365)
• William Urquhart (c.1470)
• Alexander Urquhart (1497)

Sheriffs of Ross

• 1493: Hugh Ross of Balnagowan
• 1499: David Ross of Balnagowan^[1]

Position re-established 1662

• 1662–1678: Kenneth Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Seaforth^[2]
• 1678–1689: Kenneth Mackenzie, 4th Earl of Seaforth^[3]
• 1689–1696: David Ross of Balnagowan^[4]
• 1696–1706: Sir Robert Munro of Foulis^[3]
• 1706–1710: Hugh Rose, 15th of Kilravock^[5]
• 1710–1712: Roderick Mackenzie^[6]
• 1715–1722: Hugh Rose, 15th of Kilravock^[7]
• c.1722–1725: Sir William Gordon, 1st Baronet^[8]
• 1725–1729: Sir Robert Munro of Foulis ^[9]
• 1729–1732: Hugh Rose, 15th of Kilravock^[5]
• 1732–1734: Hugh Rose, 16th of Kilravock^[9]

Sheriffs of Ross and Cromarty (1748)

• 1748–1772: Hugh Rose of Geddes
• 1773–1774: William Mackenzie of Balmaduthy
• 1774–1833: Donald Macleod of Geanies
• 1835–1850: John Jardine ^[10]
• 1850–1851: George Deas
• 1851–1855: Thomas Mackenzie^[11]
• 1855–1859: George Moir
• 1859–1869: Alexander Shank Cook
• 1869–1870: Alexander Moncrieff

Sheriffs of Ross, Cromarty and Sutherland (1870)

• 1870–1874: George Dingwall Fordyce ^[12]
• 1875–1876: John Macdonald^[13]
• 1877–1881: John Pettigrew Wilson ^[12]
• 1881–1886: William Mackintosh ^[12]
• 1886–1889: John Cheyne, KC ^[14]
• 1889–1890: Alexander Low^[14]
• 1890–1891: Andrew Jameson, Lord Ardwall ^[15] (Sheriff of Perth, 1891)
• 1891–1898: Henry Johnston ^[15] (Sheriff of Angus, 1898–1905)
• 1898–1900: William Charles Smith, KC ^[16]
• 1900-1907: Charles John Guthrie, KC ^[16]
• 1907–1912: John Alexander Reid, KC
• 1912–1940: James Mackintosh, KC
• 1946: Ross and Cromarty merged into the new sheriffdom of Inverness, Moray, Nairn & Ross & Cromarty. Sutherland merged into Sheriffdom of Caithness, Sutherland, Orkney & Zetland

See also

• Historical development of Scottish sheriffdoms

Notes and References

1. Book: The Journal of Jurisprudence: Volume 30 . 1886 . T. T. Clark . 85 . 6 September 2024.
2. Book: Kennedy . Allan D. . Governing Gaeldom . 2014 . Brill . 9789004269255 . 156 . 6 September 2024.
3. Book: Sheffield . Edwin Charles . The MacKenzie Earls of Seaforth and the Stuart dynasty, 1651–1719 (PhD thesis) . 2023 . University of Glasgow . 100, 185 . 6 September 2024.
4. Book: Mackay . Robert . History of the House and Clan of Mackay . 1829 . 426 . 6 September 2024.
5. Web site: ROSE, Hugh I (1663-1732), of Kilravock, Nairn.. History of Parliament Trust. 21 June 2019.
6. Book: Brunton . George . An Historical Account of the Senators of the College of Justice of Scotland . 1849 . 475 . 6 September 2024.
7. Book: Burke . Bernard . Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry . 1937 . 1951 . 7 September 2024.
8. Web site: GORDON, Sir William, 1st Bt. (d. 1742), of Uppat, nr. Dunrobin, Sutherland. History of Parliament Online (1690-1715). 6 September 2024.
9. Book: Rose, Hugh. A Genealogical Deduction of the Family of Rose of Kilravock. 408.
10. Book: Commons, House of . ACCOUNTS AND PAPERS-Volume 33. 216.
11. Web site: Moray Register. 10 April 2018.
12. Web site: Sheriffs of Ross, Cromarty and Sutherland. Dornoch Historylinks. 25 October 2017.
13. News: Biographies of Candidates: Scotland . . London . 30 June 1886 . 8 . The Times Digital Archive . 8 June 2016.
14. Book: Sheriff Courts. The Scottish law review and Sheriff Court reports, Volume 22. 11.
15. Book: Sheriff Courts. The Scottish law review and Sheriff Court reports, Volume 22. 13.
16. Book: SCOTTISH LAW REVIEW AND SHERIFF COURT REPORTS. VOL. XXIL— 1906. 39.