Lord Chancellor of Scotland

The Lord Chancellor of Scotland was a Great Officer of State in the Kingdom of Scotland.

Holders of the office are known from 1123 onwards, but its duties were occasionally performed by an official of lower status with the title of Keeper of the Great Seal. From the 15th century, the Chancellor was normally a Bishop or a Peer.

At the Union, the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England became the first Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, but the Earl of Seafield continued as Lord Chancellor of Scotland until 1708. He was re-appointed in 1713 and sat as an Extraordinary Lord of Session in that capacity until his death in 1730.

It has been argued that the office is only in abeyance and could potentially be revived. In the event of Scottish independence, the Scottish National Party proposes that the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament become Chancellor of Scotland, with additional constitutional powers during the absence of the Monarch from Scotland. In this respect, the Chancellor would hold a role similar to that of a Governor-General in the Commonwealth realms.[1]

List of Lords Chancellors of Scotland

James Ogilvy, 1st Earl of SeafieldJohn Hay, 2nd Marquess of TweeddaleJames Ogilvy, 1st Earl of SeafieldPatrick Hume, 1st Earl of MarchmontJohn Hay, 1st Marquess of TweeddaleJames Drummond, 4th Earl of PerthGeorge Gordon, 1st Earl of AberdeenJohn Leslie, 1st Duke of RothesWilliam Cunningham, 9th Earl of GlencairnJohn Campbell, 1st Earl of LoudounGeorge Hay, 1st Earl of KinnoullAlexander Seton, 1st Earl of DunfermlineJohn Graham, 3rd Earl of MontroseJames Stewart, Earl of ArranColin Campbell, 6th Earl of ArgyllJohn Stewart, 4th Earl of AthollArchibald Campbell, 5th Earl of ArgyllJames Douglas, 4th Earl of MortonGeorge Gordon, 5th Earl of HuntlyJames Douglas, 4th Earl of MortonGeorge Gordon, 4th Earl of HuntlyArchibald Douglas, 6th Earl of AngusGeorge Gordon, 2nd Earl of HuntlyArchibald Douglas, 5th Earl of AngusColin Campbell, 1st Earl of ArgyllColin Campbell, 1st Earl of ArgyllWilliam Sinclair, 3rd Earl of Orkney

David I

Malcolm IV

William I

Alexander II

Alexander III

English Appointees during the Interregnum

Robert I

David II

Robert II

Robert III

James I

James II

James III

James IV

James V

Mary I

James VI

Charles I

Charles II

James VII

William III and Mary II

Anne

See also

References

Notes

  1. Principles of the Constitution, at constitutionalcommission.org (.pdf file)
  2. Cowan, p. 70
  3. Cowan, p159

Sources

  • Cowan, Samuel, The Lord Chancellors of Scotland Edinburgh 1911.
  • "Lord chancellors of Scotland in the Oxford DNB", in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2007 accessed 20 Feb 2007
  • Dowden, John, The Bishops of Scotland, ed. J. Maitland Thomson, (Glasgow, 1912)
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