The Lord Chancellor of Scotland, formally titled Lord High Chancellor, was an Officer of State in the Kingdom of Scotland. The Lord Chancellor was the principal Great Officer of State, the presiding officer of the Parliament of Scotland, the Keeper of the Great Seal, the presiding officer of the Privy Council (until 1626), and a judge of the College of Justice.
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.
Following 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.
List of Lords Chancellors of Scotland David I 1124-1126: John Capellanus 1126-1143: Herbert of Selkirk bef.1143-1145: Edward, Bishop of Aberdeen c.1147–c.1150: William Cumin bef.1150-1153: Walter, possibly Walter fitz AlanCowan, p. 70
Malcolm IV 1153–1165: Enguerrand, Bishop of Glasgow
William I 1165-1171: Nicholas c.1171-1178: Walter de Bidun, Bishop of Dunkeld c.1178–1189: Roger de Beaumont, Bishop of St Andrews 1189–1199: Hugh de Roxburgh, Bishop of Glasgow 1199–1202: William de Malveisin, Bishop of Glasgow 1203-1210: Florence of Holland, Bishop-elect of Glasgow 1211-1224: William del Bois, Archdeacon of Lothian
Alexander II 1226-1227: Thomas de Stirling, Archdeacon of Glasgow 1227-1230: Matthew the Scot, Bishop-elect of Dunkeld 1231–1233: William de Bondington, Bishop of Glasgow 1233-1249: Sir William de Lindsay
Alexander III 1249–1250: Robert de Keldeleth, Abbot of Dunfermline 1250-1253: Gamelin, Bishop of St Andrews 1256–1257: Richard de Inverkeithing, Bishop of Dunkeld 1259-1273: William Wishart, Bishop of Glasgow 1273–c.1279: William Fraser, Bishop of St Andrews 1285-1291: Thomas Charteris, Archdeacon of Lothian
English Appointees during the Interregnum 1291: Alan de St Edmund, Bishop of Caithness 1292: William de Dumfries 1292: Alan de Dumfries 1294-1295: Thomas de Hunsinghore 1295-1296: Alexander Kennedy 1296-1304?: Walter de Amersham c.1301–c.1305: Nicholas de Balmyle, Bishop of Dunblane 1304-1306: William de Bevercotes
Robert I 1308–1328: Bernard, Abbot of Arbroath (later Bishop of the Isles)
David II 1328-1329: Walter de Twynham, Rector of Glasgow Primo 1329-1332: Adam de Moravia, Bishop of Brechin 1332: William Brisbane 1338-1341: William Bullock, Chancellor to Edward BaliolCowan, p. 159 1342: William de Bosco 1335x1340–1346: Sir Thomas Charteris 1350-1352: William Caldwell 1353–1370: Patrick de Leuchars, Bishop of Brechin
Robert II 1370–1377: John de Carrick, Bishop-elect of Dunkeld 1377–1390: John de Peebles, Bishop of Dunkeld
Robert III 1394: Duncan Petit, Archdeacon of Glasgow 1396-1421: Gilbert de Greenlaw, Bishop of Aberdeen
James I 1422–1425: William Lauder, Bishop of Glasgow 1426–1439: John Cameron, Bishop of Glasgow
James II 1439–c.1444: William Crichton, 1st Lord Crichton 1444: James Kennedy, Archbishop of Saint Andrews 1444-1447: James Bruce, Bishop of Dunkeld and Glasgow 1447–1453: William Crichton, 1st Lord Crichton 1454–1456: William Sinclair, Earl of Orkney and Caithness 1457–1460: George Shoreswood, Bishop of Brechin
James III 1460–1482: Andrew Stewart, 1st Lord Avandale 1482–1483: John Laing, Bishop of Glasgow 1483: James Livingstone, Bishop of Dunkeld 1483–1488: Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll
James IV 1488 (Feb–Jun): William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen 1488–1492: Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll 1493–1497: Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus 1497–1501: George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntly 1501–1504: James Stewart, Duke of Ross 1510–1513: Alexander Stewart (d. 1513), Archbishop of St Andrews
James V 1513–1526: James Beaton, Archbishop of Glasgow (later Archbishop of St Andrews) 1527–1528: Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus 1528–1543: Gavin Dunbar, Archbishop of Glasgow
Mary I 1543–1546: David Beaton, Archbishop of St Andrews 1546–1562: George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly 1563–1566: James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton 1566–1567: George Gordon, 5th Earl of Huntly
James VI 1567–1573: James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton 1573 (Jan–Sep): Archibald Campbell, 5th Earl of Argyll 1573–1578: John Lyon, 8th Lord Glamis 1578–1579: John Stewart, 4th Earl of Atholl 1579–1584: Colin Campbell, 6th Earl of Argyll 1584–1585: James Stewart, Earl of Arran 1586–1595: John Maitland, 1st Lord Maitland of Thirlestane 1599–1604: John Graham, 3rd Earl of Montrose 1604–1622: Alexander Seton, 1st Earl of Dunfermline 1622–1634: George Hay, 1st Earl of Kinnoull
Charles I 1635–1638: John Spottiswoode, Archbishop of St Andrews 1638–1641: James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton 1641–1660: John Campbell, 1st Earl of Loudoun
Charles II 1660–1664: William Cunningham, 9th Earl of Glencairn 1664–1681: John Leslie, 7th Earl of Rothes (1st Duke of Rothes from 29 May 1680) 1681-1682: Office vacant 1682–1684: George Gordon, 1st Earl of Aberdeen
James VII 1684–1689: James Drummond, 4th Earl of Perth
William III and Mary II 1689-1692: In commission 1692–1696: John Hay, 1st Marquess of Tweeddale 1696–1702: Patrick Hume, 1st Earl of Marchmont
Anne 1702–1704: James Ogilvy, 1st Earl of Seafield 1704–1705: John Hay, 2nd Marquess of Tweeddale 1705–1707: James Ogilvy, 1st Earl of Seafield
See also Director of Chancery Privy Council of Scotland Treasurer of Scotland Treasurer-depute of Scotland Secretary of State, Scotland List of Masters of Requests
References
Notes
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)