The Sheriff of Clackmannan was historically the office responsible for enforcing law and order in the county of Clackmannanshire and for bringing criminals to justice. The sheriffdom of Clackmannan can be traced back for several centuries but an exact date when it came into being is unknown.
Shires originated in the twelfth century when the office of sheriff was introduced to Scotland. These shires eventually became the counties of Scotland. Malcolm III appears to have introduced sheriffs as part of a policy of replacing Gaelic forms of government with Norman feudal structures. This was continued by his sons Edgar, Alexander I and in particular David I. David completed the division of the country into sheriffdoms by the conversion of existing thanedoms.
Prior to 1748 most sheriffdoms were held on a hereditary basis. From that date, following the Jacobite uprising of 1745, the hereditary sheriffs were replaced by salaried sheriff-deputes, qualified advocates who were members of the Scottish Bar.
A sheriffdom is a judicial district of Scotland, originally identical to the shires of Scotland. From the eighteenth century many counties were grouped together to form larger sheriffdoms.
Following sheriffdom mergers, the sheriff of Clackmannan became the Sheriff of Clackmannan and Stirling in 1747, Sheriff of Clackmannan and Kinross in 1807 and the Sheriff of Linlithgow, Clackmannan and Kinross in 1865. Following further reorganisation in 1881 Clackmannanshire became part of the Sheriffdom of Stirling, Dumbarton and Clackmannan.
The sheriff's tasks
In late medieval Scotland, the sheriff, as a minister of the crown, had numerous tasks including collecting rents, issuing writs and the administration of justice in the name of the king, the sheriff being his local representative. At this time, there were two King’s Justiciars, one covering the lands south of the River Forth, and the other the lands north of it. The King's Justiciars were responsible for trials dealing with treason, murder, forgery, theft, rape and wilful fire-raising, as well as other offences, although treason tended to go to the Court of Parliament, a civil court. The other court to distribute justice belonged to the church which dealt with religious and moral matters. During the reign of King David I, when there was an increase in the number of sheriffs, an act was passed preventing bishops, abbots or earls from holding a trial without the presence of the local sheriff.
According to the Exchequer Rolls of 1263, Clackmannanshire rents were collected for lands at Menstrie and Sauchie by the Sheriff of Stirling. It is not until 1304 there is written mention of a sheriff in the county. Following his conquest of Scotland, King Edward I of England appointed his loyal supporter Sir William Bisset of Upsettlington in the Scottish Borders as Sheriff of Stirling and Clackmannan.
Sir William's appointment was short lived, and he was replaced the following year by Henry of Anand then Sir Malcolm de Inverpefer, who was listed as Sheriff of Clackmannan in 1305, covering the villages of Clackmannan, owned by the Crown, Tullibody, owned by Cambuskenneth Abbey, and Menstrie, Tillicoultry and Dollar, which belonged to Dunfermline Abbey. The only time since without a sheriff appears to have been during the Civil War in the mid-1600's.
The sheriff acted as a criminal judge and was charged with maintaining peace. He was also a civil judge and carried out duties for the Crown, such as acting on royal warrants and orders, collecting fines and other revenue. Failing in this duty could be punishable by fine or imprisonment. Over and above this he was the military governor of Clackmannanshire and was charged with providing the men with an area to practice archery, and should war break out, he was to command the local militia.
However, this military power became redundant with the union of the crowns in 1603 and was later issued to the appointed Lord Lieutenant of Clackmannanshire by royal warrant from 1794. The royal warrant ordered the development of volunteer forces for the defence of the country and permanent lieutenancies were established. Forces were based in each county, led by a Lord Lieutenant who was appointed by the Sovereign and who in turn appointed deputies. The duties included provision for the protection of their counties in the event of invasion, threat or civil uprising. They directed volunteer forces and, after the Militia Act of 1797, were empowered to raise and command county militia units. After 1802 the Lord-Lieutenant was an ex-officio member of the Police Committee and the Local Authority, but the Local Government Act of 1889 abolished these functions, and the role of lieutenancies gradually became more ceremonial.
However, the principal role of the Lord-Lieutenant is as the personal representative of His Majesty the King in their Lieutenancy area.
The sheriffdoms continued, focusing more on the administration of justice.
The Sheriffdom of Clackmannan
• Sir Alexander de Stirling (1200 - 1207). Lord of Ochiltree, Justiciar of Lothian, Sheriff of Stirling, was a 13th-century Scottish noble. He held the office of Justiciar of Lothian jointly between 1206 and 1215 and Sheriff of Stirling at various times between 1189 and 1242.
• Sir William Bissett of Upsettington (1303 - 1304). Appointed by Edward I of England. Knight, sheriff and constable in the 13th and 14th centuries. He swore fealty to King Edward I of England in 1296. Issued with a safe passage through England to return to Scotland, to prepare for the 1297 expedition to Flanders. While he was in Flanders, his castle of Upsettlington was sacked and destroyed. William fought on the side of the English in the Battle of Falkirk on 22nd July 1298, where the Scots were defeated. He was the Sheriff of Clackmannan between 1303-1304 and Sheriff of Stirling between 1304-1305 and Constable of Stirling Castle between 1305-1307 during the Wars of Scottish Independence, remaining loyal to King Edward I of England.
• Henry de Anand (1304 - 1305). After his tenure as sheriff of Clackmannan, Henry was given the charter of the Barony of Sauchie.
• Sir Malcolm de Inverpefer (1305-1306). Sheriff of Auchterarder 1304-1305.
• Henry de Anand (1305-1306).
• Sir John Stirling of Kerse & Alva (1306 - 1347). The heritable sheriffdom was given to Sir John by King Robert the Bruce. Sir John died approximately 1347 at which point his only child Marjory's husband became the sheriff.
• Sir John de Menteith (1347 - 1382). Aquired the rights of Sheriffdom of Clackmannan through his wife's inheritance. Menteith is believed to have betrayed Sir William Wallace. David II confirmed these rights by charter in 1357. Sir John died in 1382, at which point his wife surrendered the sheriffdom and her estates to their eldest son.
• Sir William de Menteith of Kerse & Alva (1382 - 1400). Sir William received his charter from King Robert II in 1382. Sir William died in around 1411.
• Sir John de Menteith of Kerse & Alva (1400 - 1406). Sheriff during the closing years of the reign of King Robert III.
• Sir John de Menteith of Kerse & Alva (1406 - 1470).
• Sir William de Menteith of Kerse & Alva (1470). Inherited the sheriffdom and conveyed it and his estates to John Schaw of Sauchie for a period of time, believed to have done so as security when a pardon was requested after the murder of his brother-in-law, Sir John Bruce of Stanehouse.
• Sir John Schaw of Sauchie (1488 - 1489). Believed to have temporarily taken on the Sheriffdom whilst it was used as security by Sir William de Menteith.
• Sir William de Menteith of Kerse & Alva (1489 - 1508). Took over the sheriffdom from Sir John Schaw of Sauchie.
• Sir William de Menteith (1508 - 1518). Received his charter from King James IV after the resignation of his grandfather. He was present in parliament when the alliance with France was ratified.
• Sir William de Menteith (1518 - 1547). Received his charter after his father's resignation. In 1542 West Kerse, Ochiltree, Alva and the sheriffdom of Clackmannan were incorporated into one barony.
• Sir Robert de Menteith (1547 - 1552). Took over the sheriffdom after his nephew's death and resigned the sheriffdom in 1552, at which point his son inherited it.
• Sir John de Menteith (1552 - 1590). Obtained a charter for the lands and sheriffdom from Queen Mary in 1552, after his father resigned the sheriffdom. In 1565 he obtained another charter from the Crown in his and his son's favour for lifetime.
• Sir William de Menteith (1590 - 1631). In 1592 an order was obtained by him to build a jail and courthouse in Clackmannan. Prior to the passing of an Act of Parliament on 5th June 1592, Clackmannan had no tolbooth, courts of justice being held at the Burgh Cross. Died 1631.
• Sir William de Menteith (1631). Inherited the sheriffdom on the death of his father and promptly sold it to Sir William Livingston.
• Sir William Livingston (1631 -1638). Purchased the estate of Kerse. The charter in his favour is dated 31st July 1631 and included the Barony of West Kerse, Forester of the forest and the Sheriffdom of Clackmannan.
• Sir Thomas Hope (1638 - 1643). Purchased the barony and the sheriffdom of Clackmannan from Sir William Livingston. Sir Thomas was knighted in July 1633 and sat in parliament as the Commissioner for Clackmannanshire from 1639 to1641. He was the speaker for the freeholders and barons. In 1640 he became Colonel of Troop of Horse which was raised by the College of Justice and sent to attend to General Leslie when he marched into England at the head of the Scottish army. In 1641 he was appointed a Lord of Session as well as Lord Justice General. He died in Edinburgh in 1643. At which time his son Thomas Hope inherited the Sheriffdom.
• Sir Thomas Hope (1643 - 1654). Inherited the sheriffdom after his father's death and promptly deputised Thomas Bollock as he was too young for the role.
• Thomas Bollock (1643 - 1654). Deputised by Thomas Hope as he was too young for the role at his father's death.
• 1654 Clackmannan sheriffdom annexed to Stirling and joined with it to Linlithgow in the election of a member to Cromwell's Parliament.
• 1654 Ordinance passed abolishing all inheritable jurisdictions.
• 1660 At the time of the Restoration, Clackmannan was returned to its own sheriffdom.
• Sir Alexander Hope (1660 - 1662). After the Restoration, Sir Alexander Hope succeeded his brother, Sir Thomas Hope as the Sheriff. Sir Alexander Hope deputised Thomas Mitchell for a couple of years.
• Thomas Mitchell (1662 - 1664). Deputised as Sheriff by Sir Alexander Hope.
• Sir Alexander Hope (1664 - 1666). Recommenced his duties as Sheriff until he resigned the Sheriffdom and role of Forester of the Forest into the hands of the Crown.
• Sir Henry Bruce (1666 - 1674). Heritable sheriff conferred by Charles II, August 1668, ratified and confirmed 19th October 1669. Descendant of Robert Bruce, who King David II granted Barony of Clackmannan in 1358, Henry Bruce was knighted by Charles II in 1669. On his death in 1674 his son David Bruce inherited the sheriffdom.
• Sir David Bruce, (1674 - 1698). Made bankrupt by inherited debts from Sir Henry Bruce. Prior to bankruptcy was made a member of parliament for the county, he remained in parliament during King Charles II reign as well as the short reign of James VII. Noted to have had Jacobite sympathies.
Upon refusing to take an oath to the new government he was removed from Parliament on 28th April 1693. Around the same time, he declared a trust deed for his creditors and thus lost his estates and the heritable rights of sheriff of the county. David Bruce continued to live in Clackmannan and in 1704 had to petition parliament for a personal protection from imprisonment for debt by his creditors, he stated his state of insolvency was due to the liabilities he inherited from his father and the expenditure of working the coal mines at Clackmannan and Sauchie, he was granted the protection from arrest. A few years later the estate of Clackmannan was sold on behalf of his creditors.
• Robert Stewart (1698). Was put in place as an interim appointment by the crown for the administration of justice in the county. Stewart was an advocate and Commissary of Edinburgh (his father was a judge in the court of session). Stewart held a court on 30th September 1698 where he produced his commission, he considered his appointment to be temporary and provisional as he undertook no judicial business. He did however appoint some procurators and sheriff officers and swore in William Morrison as the Sheriff Clerk. Now that the court was functioning, he left never to sit again.
• William Morrison (1698 - 1700). On 9th November 1698 Morrison presented a Commission from Robert Stewart, making him the Sheriff depute.
• No record (1700 - 1712).
• William Dalrymple (1712 - 1742). Dalrymple purchased the estate of Clackmannan in the judicial sale on behalf of David Bruce's creditors. The purchase appears to have taken place in 1708. He was a colonel in the army and a member of the last parliament in Scotland for Ayr. He supported the treaty of the union. In the 1708 general election he was elected as a member of the parliament of Great Britain and represented Clackmannan for 2 years. He subsequently represented the burghs of Stranraer in 1722 where he was also re-elected, as well as being elected for the county of Wigton in 1725 & 1734. On taking up his judicial seat in 1712, Dalrymple immediately appointed a Deputy, Mr William Muirhead of Culross. Dalrymple rarely sat at court, instead allowing the court business to be undertaken by deputies, firstly Muirhead, then Mr James Dalrymple (advocate & his son), finally James Bruce. Dalrymple died 1742 and the sheriffdom was inherited by his son.
• William Dalrymple, Earl of Dumfries (1742 - 1747). Dalrymple was the last inherited sheriff of Clackmannan County. He was sheriff for only a short period as the Heritable Jurisdictions Abolition Act 1748 was passed, this abolished all heritable jurisdictions as well as the office of sheriff principal, the act vested the latter office in the crown. Dalrymple appointed Mr Robert Bruce of Kennet as his sheriff depute and never officiated as sheriff in person. He was paid £2000 for the loss of his office.
1748: The Sheriffdoms of Clackmannan and Stirling were combined
• David Walker (1748 - 1761). He presented his commission and took his seat as the Sheriff of Clackmannan on 18th March 1748, his salary was £150 per year.
• Robert Bruce of Kennet (1761 - 1764). He passed as advocate on 15th January 1743, at the time of his appointment he was a Professor of the Law of Nature and Nations at Edinburgh University. He resigned in 1764 after being raised to the bench of the Court of Session. He took his seat as Lord Kennet on 4th July 1764, in died at Kennet 8th April 1785.
• George Cokburne Haldane 18th of Gleneagles (1764 - 1770). Advocate, 10th July 1751. Sheriff of Banff 1756-1764.
• Alexander Abercromby, Lord Abercromby, (1770 - 1780). Resigned on becoming a Deputy Advocate. He was promoted to the bench of the court of session on 17th June 1792. Was the fourth son of George Abercromby of Tullibody. He was appointed a Lord of Justiciary in 1792. Died November 1795.
• John Pringle (1780 - 1790). Advocate. Appointed on 24th April 1780. Sheriff of Edinburgh 1790-1793.
• William Tait (1790 - 1797) Fellow of The Royal Society of Edinburgh 1787. Elected as MP for Stirling burghs 1797.
• David Williamson (later Robertson Ewart) (1797 - 1807). Took his seat in Clackmannan for the first time on 18th April 1797, resigned his Clackmannan Sheriffdom when changes were made to constitution of the sheriffdoms. He was then sheriff depute for Stirling only. On 20th November 1811 he was created a Lord of Session under the title Lord of Balgray.
• 1808 The Sheriffdom of Clackmannan combined with Kinross and disengaged from Stirling.
• Sir James Moncreiff, Lord Moncrieff (1808 - 1829) passed as advocate in January 1799, resigned when made a judge at the court of session under the title Lord Moncrieff. He was well known for his connection with the Free Church movement and was one of the leaders. He was a judge of the court of session and justiciary until his death in 1851.
1822: The Sheriff court is moved to Alloa
• John Tait (1830 - 1866). Presented his commission in January 1830, he was the sheriff for 35 years. During his tenure several changes took place including the moving of the court to several different places around Alloa, until it was provided a spacious apartment within a new county hall and offices building. This new location was opened on 8th December 1865 and his portrait was also displayed in the courthouse. An act of parliament was passed in 1853 that lead to the uniting of Linlithgow, Clackmannan and Bancross sheriffdoms after the death of Mr John Cay Sheriff of Linlithgow a few years later. In 1866 Mr Tait was invited to accept the sheriffdom of Perth and in doing so he resigned his Clackmannan sheriffdom. He died 2nd August 1877.
• George Monro (1866–1881). Was the author of treatise upon the Public Health Act of 1868, the framing of said act he is said to have had a leading part. At this point the Sheriff principle became less of a county magistrate and more of an appeal judge.
• 1881 - Sheriffdom divided between the three new sheriffdoms: The Lothians / Stirling, Dumbarton and Clackmannan / Fife and Kinross by an 1870 Act of Parliament
•William Ellis Gloag (1881 - 1885). Gloag was already the sheriff of Dumbarton and Stirling so on the resignation of George Monro he also became the sheriff for Clackmannan. He was previously an Advocate Depute and had a large practice as a counsel. In 1885 he became the sheriff of Perth he resigned his seats for Stirling, Dumbarton & Clackmannan. In 1889 he was appointed one of the Senators of the Court of Justice, he took his seat in the name of Lord Kincairney.
•James Muirhead (1885 - 1889). Resigned his office of sheriff of chancery to become the Stirling, Dumbarton & Clackmannan Sheriff. Was admitted as a member of the Faculty of Advocates in 1857. The same year he was called to the English bar. Died 1889 after a short illness.
•Alexander Blair (1889 - 1891). Previously a sheriff of chancery, with 29 years of experience before becoming the sheriff of Stirling, Dumbarton and Clackmannan.
•John Mckie Lees (1891 - 1917). Resigned the sheriffdom of Stirling, Dumbarton and Clackmannan to become the sheriff of Forfar.
•James Robert Nicolson Macphail (1917 - 1933). Was an author of several books relating to the highlands of Scotland.
•Sir Archibald Campbell Black OBE (1933 - 1937). Resigned when he became the Sheriff of Lanarkshire.
•Sir John Charles Fenton (1937 - 1942) served in WW1, was appointed King's Counsel in 1923, He was the Solicitor General for Scotland for a period in 1924 in the first Labour Government of the UK. He became Sheriff of Chancery in 1942. In 1945 he was knighted.
•Sir Robert Henry Maconochie (1942 - 1961). Retired on 31st July 1961.
•Francis Clifford Watt (1961 - 1971). Former wartime conservative MP for the Edinburgh Central constituency (1941-1945). He was qualified as an advocate and a Member of the Scottish Bar and was awarded King's Counsel (KC) on 20th August 1946. He served as Sheriff of Caithness, Sutherland, Orkney and Zetland from 1952, until his transfer as Sheriff of Stirling, Dumbarton and Clackmannan in 1961. He held the sheriffdom until his death on 8th April 1971.
•Robert Richardson Taylor (1971-1975).
1975: Reorganisation
1975 the judicial system was altered once again and now Scotland was split into six sheriffdoms, which each had a number of legally qualified sheriffs responsible for hearings within a number of sheriff courts within each sheriffdom. Clackmannan now fell under the umberella of Tayside, Central & Fife sheriffdom with the local sheriff court being in Alloa. The Principal Sheriff for Tayside, Central & Fife are listed below.
•Robert Richardson Taylor (1975 - 1983). Died 21st May 1993.
•Edward F Bowen QC (1983 - 1990). Appointed Queens Counsel in 1992. In October 1997 he was appointed Sheriff Principal of Glasgow and Strathkelvin (1997 - 2005). Scotlands first Drug and Domestic Abuse Courts were established by groups he was the chairman of. Transferred to the Sheriffdom of Lothian and Borders in 2005 retiring from that office in May 2011. The Review of Sheriff and Jury Procedures was chaired by him and reported in 2010. In the 2010 New Year's Honour List he was appointed as a CBE.
•John J Maguire (1990 - 1998).
•John Wheatley QC (1998 - 2000). Served on the Supreme Court Legal Aid Committee as well as the Parole Board from 2000-2003, he also served on the Judges' Council from 2001-2005.
•Alistair Dunlop (2000 - 2015) also served as a temporary judge at the Court of Session and a part time member of the Sheriff Appeal Court. He was also a member of the Scottish Court Service Board. Retired in 2015.
•Marysia W Lewis (2015- present). Sheriff Lewis called the Sheriffdom of Tayside, Central & Fife, “by far the best sheriffdom in the country” whilst welcoming another sheriff to the sheriffdom.