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 Position re-established 1662 1662–1678: Kenneth Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Seaforth 1678–1689: Kenneth Mackenzie, 4th Earl of Seaforth 1689–1696: David Ross of Balnagowan 1696–1706: Sir Robert Munro of Foulis 1706–1710: Hugh Rose, 15th of Kilravock 1710–1712: Roderick Mackenzie 1715–1722: Hugh Rose, 15th of Kilravock c.1722–1725: Sir William Gordon, 1st Baronet 1725–1729: Sir Robert Munro of Foulis 1729–1732: Hugh Rose, 15th of Kilravock 1732–1734: Hugh Rose, 16th of Kilravock
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 1850–1851: George Deas 1851–1855: Thomas Mackenzie 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 1875–1876: John Macdonald 1877–1881: John Pettigrew Wilson 1881–1886: William Mackintosh 1886–1889: John Cheyne, KC 1889–1890: Alexander Low 1890–1891: Andrew Jameson, Lord Ardwall (Sheriff of Perth, 1891) 1891–1898: Henry Johnston (Sheriff of Angus, 1898–1905) 1898–1900: William Charles Smith, KC 1900-1907: Charles John Guthrie, KC 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
References