Sheriff of Berwick

The Sheriff of Berwick was historically a royal official, who was responsible for enforcing justice in Berwickshire, 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 sheriffdom was merged into the new sheriffdom of Haddington and Berwick in 1856.

Sheriffs of Berwick

• Norman (1147)
• Walter de Lindsay (1206)
• Robert of Upsettlington (1220)
• Ingram de Balliol (1228)
• William de Lindsay (c. 1230)
• David de Graham (1236)
• John Maxwell
• David de Graham (1264)
• Hugh de Berkeley (1266)
• John de Soulis (1288)
• William Lindsay
• Richard Fraser
• Osbert of Spaldington (1295-1297)
• John de Burdon (1300-1302)
• Edmund Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings (1312)
• John FitzWalter, 2nd Baron FitzWalter (1325)
• Hugh Gifford (1329)
• Robert Lauder (1330)
• John I Preston, Baron of Craigmillar (c. 1420)
• Patrick Nesbit (1437)
• Walter de Halyburton
• John de Halyburton (1447)
  • Alexander Hume (1447) - Deputy
• Patrick Hepburn of Dunsyre (1450)
• Adam Hepburn, Master of Hailes (1470)
• Patrick Hepburn, 1st Earl of Bothwell (1480)
• Adam Hepburn, 2nd Earl of Bothwell (1511)
• Alexander French, (son of Adam French 8th Laird of Thornydykes (1584 - 1594)
• Patrick Hume, Earl of Marchmont (1690–1710) ^[1]
• Alexander, Earl of Home (1710-1715) ^[1]
• Patrick Hume, Earl of Marchmont (1715-1724) ^[1]
• Alexander, Earl of Marchmont (1724-) ^[1]
• Adam French, (son of Adam French 8th Laird of Thornydykes) 1584 - 1594

Sheriffs-Depute

• George Ker, 1755– ^[2] (first Sheriff-depute of modern era)
• David Hume of Ninewells, 1783–1793 ^[3] (Sheriff of Linlithgow, 1793–1811)
• John Swinton, 1793–1809 ^[4]
• David Douglas of Reston, 1809–1813 ^[5]
• William Boswell, <1819–1840
• Robert Bell 1841–1856^{[6] [7]} (Sheriff of Haddington and Berwick, 1856)

• For sheriffs after 1856 see Sheriff of Haddington and Berwick

See also

• Historical development of Scottish sheriffdoms

References

1. "Caledonia, or, An account, historical and topographic of North Britain from the most ancient to the present times Volume 3". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
2. Chalmers, George. Caledonia, Or an Account, Historical and Topographic, of North ..., Volume 2. p. 216.
3. "Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002" (PDF). Royal Society of Edinburgh. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
4. Finance Accounts of Great Britain and Ireland. p. 286.
5. "Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002" (PDF). Royal Society of Edinburgh. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
6. Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland. p. 851.
7. "Sheriff-Ship of East Lothian". Caledonian Mercury. 18 June 1856.