List of Lord Chancellors of Scotland

Lord Chancellor of Scotland was the highest office of the Kingdom of Scotland until the union with England in 1707 .

The holders of the office are only known from the year 1123. In the early days, a lower civil servant was occasionally appointed. From the 15th century, the lord chancellors were usually bishops or earls .

Name (life data)	Term of office	annotation	image
Herbert	around 1123 – around 1131
William Comyn † around 1160	around 1136 – around 1141	thereafter unrecognized bishop of Durham
Jordan	around 1141
Edward	before 1144-1147	later Bishop of Aberdeen (1150–1171)
Walter fitz Alan	before 1151–1161 / 62
Engelram † around 1174	1161 / 62-1164	Archdean of Teviotdale, later Bishop of Glasgow (1164–1174)
Nicholas	1165-1171
Walter de Bidun † 1178	around 1171–1178	Bishop of Dunkeld ( elect )
vacant	1178-1187
Roger de Beaumont † 1202	around 1188–1189	Bishop of St. Andrews (1189–1202) thereof in the period 1189–1198 (elect)
Hugh de Roxburgh † July 10, 1199	1189-1199	Bishop of Glasgow (elect)
William de Malveisin † July 9, 1238	1199-1202	Bishop of Glasgow (1199–1202), later Bishop of St. Andrews (1202–1238)
Florence † November 30, 1210	1203-1210	Bishop of Glasgow (1202–1207) (elect)
William de Bosco	1211-1224	Archdean of Lothian
Thomas de Stirling	1226-1227	Archdean of Glasgow
Matthias the Scot (or Matthew the Scot) around † 1230	1227-1230	Bishop of Dunkeld (1229–1230) (elect)
William de Bondington † 1258	1231-1247	Bishop of Glasgow (1233–1258)
Robert de Keldeleth † 1273	1249-1251	Abbot of Dunfermline , later Abbot of Melrose
Gamelin † 1271	1254-1255	Bishop of St. Andrews (1255-1271)
Richard de Inverkeithing † April 16, 1272	1255-1257	Bishop of Dunkeld (1250–1272)
William Wishart † May 28, 1279	1259-1273	Archdean, later Bishop of St. Andrews (1271–1279)
William Fraser † August 20, 1297	1273 – around 1279	Dean of Glasgow, later Bishop of St. Andrews (1279–1297)
Thomas de Carnoto	1285-1291
Alan de St. Edmunds † late 1291	1291	Bishop of Caithness (1282–1291)
William de Dumfries	1292
Alan de Dumfries	1292
Thomas de Hunsinghore	1294-1295
Alexander Kennedy	1295-1296
Nicholas de Balmyle † after February 8, 1319	around 1301 – around 1305	Bishop of Dunblane (1307-1319)
Bernhard de Linton † 1331	1308-1328	Abbot of Arbroath, later Bishop of Sodor (1328–1331)
Walter de Twynham	1328-1329
Adam de Moravia	1329-1332	Bishop of Brechin (1328-1349)
Thomas de Carnoto	1340-1346
William de Caldwell	1350-1352
Patrick de Leuchars † after June 20, 1383	1355-1370	Bishop of Brechin (1351-1383)
John de Carrick † around 1380	1370-1377	Bishop of Dunkeld (elect) (1370)
John de Peebles † between March 18, 1390 and February 1, 1391	1377-1390	Archdean of St. Andrews, later Bishop of Dunkeld (1378-1391)
Duncan Petyt	1394-1422	Archdean of Glasgow
William Lauder * around 1380; † June 14, 1425	1422-1425	Bishop of Glasgow (1408-1425)
John Cameron † December 24, 1446	1426-1439	Bishop of Glasgow (1426-1446)
William Crichton, 1st Lord Crichton † 1454	1439-1444
James Bruce † 1447	1444-1447	Bishop of Dunkeld (1441–1447), later Bishop of Glasgow (1447)
William Crichton, 1st Lord Crichton † 1454	1447-1453
William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness * 1410; † between July 30, 1479 and August 3, 1380	1454-1456
George de Schoriswood † 1462/63	1457-1460	Bishop of Brechin (1454–1462 / 1463)
Andrew Stewart, 1st Lord Avandale * before 1425 - † 1488	1460-1482
John Laing † January 11, 1483	1482-1483	Bishop of Glasgow (1474–1483)
James Livingston † August 28, 1483	1483	Bishop of Dunkeld (1475–1483)
Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll * around 1433; † May 10, 1493	1483-1488
William Elphinstone * 1431; † October 25, 1514	1488	Bishop of Aberdeen (1483-1514)
Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll * around 1433; † May 10, 1493	1488-1492
Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus * around 1453; † 1514	1493-1497
George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntly * before 1455; † June 8, 1501	1497-1501
James Stewart, 1st Duke of Ross * 1476; † 1504	1501-1504	Archbishop of St. Andrews (1497–1504)
vacant	1504-1510	under Alexander Stewart administration
Alexander Stewart * 1493; † September 9, 1513	1510-1513	Archbishop of St. Andrews (1504–1513)
James Beaton * 1473; † 1539	1513-1526	Archbishop of Glasgow (1508–1522), later Archbishop of St. Andrews (1522–1539)
Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus * 1490; † January 1557	1527-1528
Gavin Dunbar * around 1490; † 1547	1528-1543	Archbishop of Glasgow (1524–1547)
David Beaton * around 1494; † May 29, 1546	1543-1546	Cardinal and Archbishop of St. Andrews (1537–1546)
George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly * 1514; † October 28, 1562	1546-1562
James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton * 1525; † June 2, 1581	1563-1566
George Gordon, 5th Earl of Huntly * 1532/34; † October 20, 1576	1566-1567
James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton * 1525; † June 2, 1581	1567-1573
Archibald Campbell, 5th Earl of Argyll * between 1532 and 1537; † September 12, 1573	1573
John Lyon, 8th Lord Glamis † 1578	1573-1578
John Stewart, 4th Earl of Atholl * between 1533 and 1542; † April 25, 1579	1578-1579
Colin Campbell, 6th Earl of Argyll * 1541/46 ; † October 1584	1579-1584
James Stewart, 5th Earl of Arran	1584-1585
John Maitland, 1st Lord Thirlestane * 1537; † October 3, 1595	1586-1595
John Graham, 3rd Earl of Montrose * 1548; † November 9, 1608	1599-1604
Alexander Seton, 1st Earl of Dunfermline * 1555; † 1622	1604-1622
George Hay, 1st Earl of Kinnoull * 1572; † 1634	1622-1634
John Spottiswoode * 1565; † November 26, 1639	1635-1638	Archbishop of St. Andrews (1615-1638)
James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton born June 19, 1606; † March 9, 1649	1638-1641
John Campbell, 1st Earl of Loudoun * 1598; † 1662	1641-1660
William Cunningham, 9th Earl of Glencairn	1660-1664
John Leslie, 1st Duke of Rothes	1664-1681
vacant	1681-1682
George Gordon, 1st Earl of Aberdeen * October 6, 1637; † April 20, 1720	1682-1684
James Drummond, 4th Earl of Perth * 1648; † May 11, 1716	1684-1689
in commission	1689-1692
John Hay, 1st Marquess of Tweeddale	1692-1696
Patrick Hume, 1st Earl of Marchmont	1696-1702
James Ogilvy, 1st Earl of Seafield * July 11, 1664; † August 19, 1730	1702-1704
John Hay, 2nd Marquess of Tweeddale * 1645; † April 20, 1713	1704-1705
James Ogilvy, 1st Earl of Seafield * July 11, 1664; † August 19, 1730	1705-1707

Remarks

1. ↑ Livingston's name appears in some lists and not in others. This may be due to the fact that he died shortly after his appointment.

literature

• Powicke & Fryde: Handbook of British Chronology. Second Edition, London 1961, from p. 173
• J. Maitland Thomson: Public Record of Scotland , from p. 54
• Lord chancellors of Scotland in the Oxford DNB , Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press. seen on March 12, 2012 License required