Lord Chancellor of Scotland

The Lord Chancellor of Scotland was a Great Officer of State in pre-Union 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 an Earl.

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 be revived, although revival seems unlikely at the present time.

List of Lord Chancellors of Scotland

• 1123-1131: Herbert
• c.1136–c.1141: William Comyn
• c.1141: Jordan
• bef.1144-1147: Edward, Bishop of Aberdeen
• bef.11511161x1162: Walter de Bidun
• 1161x1162–1164: Enguerrand, Bishop of Glasgow
• 1165-1171: Nicholas
• c.1171-1178: Walter de Bidun, Bishop of Dunkeld
• 1178-1187: Office vacant
• c.1188–1189: 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
• 1226-1227: Thomas de Stirling, Archdeacon of Glasgow
• 1227-1230: Matthew the Scot, Bishop-elect of Dunkeld
• 1231–1247: William de Bondington, Bishop of Glasgow
• 1249–1251: Robert de Keldeleth, Abbot of Dunfermline
• 1254-1255): Gamelin, Bishop of St Andrews
• 1255–1257: 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
• 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
• c.1301–c.1305: Nicholas de Balmyle, Bishop of Dunblane
• 1308–1328: Bernard, Abbot of Arbroath (later Bishop of the Isles)
• 1328-1329: Walter de Twynham, Rector of Glasgow Primo
• 1329-1332: Adam de Moravia, Bishop of Brechin
• 1335x1340–1346: Sir Thomas Charteris
• 1350-1352: William Caldwell
• 1353–1370: Patrick de Leuchars, Bishop of Brechin
• 1370–1377: John de Carrick, Bishop-elect of Dunkeld
• 1377–1390: John de Peebles, Bishop of Dunkeld
• 1394: Duncan de Petyt, Archdeacon of Glasgow
• 1422–1425: William Lauder, Bishop of Glasgow
• 1426–1439: John Cameron, Bishop of Glasgow
• 1439–c.1444: William Crichton, 1st Lord Crichton
• 1447–1453: William Crichton, 1st Lord Crichton,
• 1454–1456: William Sinclair, Earl of Orkney and Caithness
• 1457–1460: George Shoreswood, Bishop of Brechin
• 1460–1482: Andrew Stewart, 1st Lord Avandale
• 1482–1483: John Laing, Bishop of Glasgow
• 1483–1488: Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 1635–1638: John Spottiswoode, Archbishop of St Andrews
• 1638–1641: James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton
• 1641–1660: John Campbell, 1st Earl of Loudoun
• 1660–1664: William Cunningham, 9th Earl of Glencairn
• 1664–1681: John Leslie, 1st Duke of Rothes
• 1681-1682: Office vacant
• 1682–1684: George Gordon, 1st Earl of Aberdeen
• 1684–1689: James Drummond, 4th Earl of Perth
• 1689-1692: In commission
• 1692–1696: John Hay, 1st Marquess of Tweeddale
• 1696–1702: Patrick Hume, 1st Earl of Marchmont
• 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

• Privy Council of Scotland
• Treasurer of Scotland
• Treasurer-depute of Scotland
• Secretary of State, Scotland
• Master of Requests

References

• "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)