Sheriff of Elgin

The Sheriff of Elgin was historically the royal official responsible for enforcing law and order in Elgin, Scotland. Prior to 1748 most sheriffdoms were held on a hereditary basis. From that date, following the Jacobite uprising of 1745, they were replaced by salaried sheriff-deputes, qualified advocates who were members of the Scottish Bar.

After a merger the sheriff became the Sheriff of Elgin and Nairn in 1747. After further mergers the sheriffdom became part of the sheriffdom of Banff, Elgin & Nairn in 1854, part of the sheriffdom of Inverness, Elgin & Nairn in 1882 and part of the sheriffdom of Inverness, Moray, Nairn & Ross & Cromarty in 1946.

Sheriffs of Elgin

 * Alexander Douglas (1226-1235)
 * Thomas Wiseman (1237-1249)
 * Alexander de Montfort (1261)
 * Reginald le Chen (1291-1297)
 * Willam Wiseman (1304-1305)
 * William de Strathbok (1337)
 * William de Valognes (1362)
 * Alexander Dunbar of Westfield (1446)
 * Alexander Dunbar (1470)
 * James Dunbar of Cumnock (c. 1497)

Sheriffs-Depute of Elgin and Nairn (1747)

 * Sir George Abercromby, 4th Baronet, 1783–>1822
 * Robert Cunningham Graham Spiers, 1835-1840 (Sheriff of Edinburgh, 1840–1847)
 * Cosmo Innes, 1840–1852
 * Benjamin Robert Bell, –1854 (Sheriff of Banff, Elgin and Nairn, 1854)


 * Sheriffdom merged in 1854 to form the sheriffdom of Banff, Elgin and Nairn