Sheriff of Stirling explained
The Sheriff of Stirling was historically the office responsible for enforcing law and order in Stirling, Scotland and bringing criminals to justice. Prior to 1748 most sheriffdoms were held on a hereditary basis. From that date, following the Jacobite uprising of 1745, the hereditary sheriffs were replaced by salaried sheriff-deputes, qualified advocates who were members of the Scottish Bar.
Following mergers of the Scottish sheriffdoms the office became the Sheriff of Stirling & Dumbarton in 1871 [1] and the Sheriff of Stirling, Dumbarton & Clackmannan in 1881.
The sheriffdom was dissolved in 1975 when the current sheriffdoms of North Strathclyde and Tayside, Central and Fife were created.
Sheriffs of Stirling
- William Fitz Thorald (c.1130)
- Dufoter (1153)
- William de Stirling (1165)
- Gilbert de Stirling (1170)
- Alexander de Stirling (1189, 1195–1198, 1219)
- Muireadhach II, Earl of Menteith (1226)
- John de Stirling (1230)
- Bernard Fraser (1226-1233)
- Alexander de Stirling (1235)
- John de Stirling (1241)
- Gilbert Fraser (1258)
- John Lamberton (1265-1266)
- Patrick de Graham (1288-1289)
- Andrew Fraser (1291-1293)
- David Grant (1295-1296)
- Richard Waldgrave (1296)
- Alexander Livingstone (1304)
- William Bisset (1304-1305)
- Alexander Fraser (1328)
- Richard Lachlan - 1328 - Deputy
- Richard Lachlan (1329)
- Robert Erskine (1360)
- Andrew Murray (1367)
- Thomas Erskine (1367)
- Walter Oliphant (1368)
- Thomas, Earl of Mar (1368)
- Robert de Normanville (1373)
- John Stewart (1407)
- John Seton, 2nd Lord Seton (1436)
- Malcolm Fleming (1470)
- Alexander Bruce - 1470 - Deputy
- Janes Schaw of Sanchie (1473)
- Alexander Seton (1488)
Sheriffs-Depute of Stirling and Clackmannan (1748)
Sheriffs-Depute of Stirling (1807)
- 1807 - Stirling separated from Clackmannan
- David Williamson, 1807–1811 [5]
- Ranald Macdonald of Staffa, 1811–1838
- John Shaw Stewart, 1839–1840[6]
- Robert Handyside, 1840–1853 [7]
- Charles Baillie, 1853–1858
- George Moir, 1858–1868 [8]
- Robert Bogle Blackburn, 1868–1871
Sheriffs of Stirling and Dumbarton (1871)
- Robert Bogle Blackburn, 1871–1875
Sheriffs of Stirling, Dumbarton and Clackmannan (1881)
- James Muirhead, 1885–1889[9]
- Alexander Blair, 1889–1891 [9]
- John Mckie Lees, 1891–1917 [9]
- James Robert Nicolson Macphail, 1917–1933
- Sir Archibald Campbell Black, 1933–1937 (Sheriff of Lanark, 1937)
- John Charles Fenton, 1937–1942 (Sheriff of the Lothians and Peebles, 1942)
- Sir Robert Henry Maconochie, 1942–1961
- Francis Clifford Watt, QC, 1961–1971
- Robert Richardson Taylor, 1971–1975 [10] (Sheriff Principal of Tayside, Central and Fife, 1975)
- In 1975 the sheriffdom was largely merged into the current sheriffdom of Tayside, Central and Fife.
See also
Notes and References
- News: Epitome of the News. Leicester Mercury. 30 December 1871. 2.
- Web site: Annual Register. 7 April 2018.
- Book: Brunton, George. An Historical Account of the Senators of the College of Justice. 540.
- Web site: Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002. Royal Society of Edinburgh. 6 April 2018.
- Book: Brunton, George. An Historical Account of the Senators of the College of Justice. 548.
- Book: Lee, Thomas. Seekers of Truth: The Scottish Founders of Modern Public Accountancy. 170.
- Web site: Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002. Royal Society of Edinburgh. 26 October 2017.
- Web site: Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002. Royal Society of Edinburgh. 26 October 2017.
- Book: Sheriff Courts. The Scottish law review and Sheriff Court reports, Volume 22. 11.
- Web site: SHERIFFS (SCOTLAND). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 21 May 1974. 19 October 2017.
