Sheriff of the Lothians and Peebles


The Sheriff of the Lothians and Peebles was historically the office responsible for enforcing law and order and bringing criminals to justice in The Lothians and Peebles, Scotland. 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.
The position of Sheriff of the Lothians had been created in 1881 following a merger of the sheriffdom of Midlothian and Haddington with the Linlithgow part of the sheriffdom of Linlithgow, Clackmannan & Kinross. The position of Sheriff of Peebles was then joined to it in 1883 to create the new position of Sheriff of the Lothians & Peebles.
This latter sheriffdom was replaced in 1975 by the current sheriffdom of Lothian and Borders.

Sherriffs of Lothian

  • Alexander Fairlie of Braid, 1594

Sheriffs of Peebles

;Sheriffs-Depute
  • James Montgomery, 1748–?1760
  • Alexander Murray of Murrayfield, 1761–1775
  • James Wolf Murray, 1789–1811
  • James Wedderburn, 1811–1816
  • Andrew Clephane, 1816–>1825
  • John Wood, c.1835–1840
  • George Napier, 1840-1883

Sheriffs of the Lothians and Peebles (1883)