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                  Senior officials – Chamberlain/Treasurer

                  Royal burghs and burghs of barony elected treasurers from at least 1469.[1] Parliamentary and police burghs were required to elect treasurers from 1833 and this post could not be held by the town clerk.[2] The treasurer was a member of the council and was elected yearly by his fellow members of council with his office running for that year only, although he could be re-appointed each following year. Gradually, however, the keeping of a burgh’s accounts usually passed to a paid official, again as an annual, renewable appointment: Edinburgh appointed its first paid chamberlain in 1766.[3] In 1947, the elected role of treasurer became formally designated as the honorary treasurer and burghs were required to appoint a salaried post of town chamberlain.[4]

                  County councils were empowered to appoint a treasurer as well as a county clerk, collector(s) assessors, surveyors and other staff as ‘necessary and proper for the efficient execution of the duties of the county council’.[5] The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947 required county councils to appoint a treasurer as chief financial officer.[6] At local government reorganisation in 1975 the titles of treasurer and chamberlain were no longer used and instead local authorities were required to ‘make arrangements for the proper administration of their financial affairs’ under the care of a proper officer.[7]

                  Compiler: Elspeth Reid (2021)

                  Bibliography

                  Imrie, J. D., ‘The Office of City Chamberlain’ in Historical studies in the development of local government services in Edinburgh Series 1 (National Association of Local Government Officers, Edinburgh and District Branch, 1935-36), pp. 15-22

                  Kerley, Richard & Mark Urquhart, Local authority organisation and management in Scotland 1975-1996 (Scottish Office Central Research Unit, 1997)

                  Pryde, George S., Central and local government in Scotland since 1707 (Historical Association (Great Britain) 1960)

                  Whyte, W. E., The Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1929: a popular exposition of its provisions (Hodge & Co, 1929)

                   

                  References

                  [1] Election of officers of burghs, The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707 ed. by K.M. Brown and others (University of St Andrews, 2007-2021), 1469/19.<http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/1469/19> [accessed: 10 May 2021].

                  [2] Parliamentary Burghs (Scotland) Act 1833 (3 & 4 Will. IV c.77) s.1; Burgh Police Act 1833 (3 & 4 Will. IV c.46) s.59; General Police and Improvement (Scotland) Act 1862 (25 & 26 Vict. c.101) s.64, s.69; Burgh Police Scotland Act 1892 (55 & 56 Vict. c.55) s.63.

                  [3] J D Imrie ‘The Office of City Chamberlain’ in Historical studies in the development of local government services in Edinburgh (National Association of Local Government Officers, Edinburgh and District Branch Series no. 1. 1935-36), pp. 15-22 (p.15).

                  [4] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. VI c.43) s.30, s.85.

                  [5] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 (53 & 53 Vict. c.50) s.83(3).

                  [6] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. VI c.43) s.77.

                  [7] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c.65) s.95.

                  Scottish Local Government

                  Medieval and early modern local government

                  An important process took place from the 12th century onwards, when Scotland was divided into counties, parishes and burghs. Counties had their origin in sheriffdoms and stewartries (sheriffs and stewards were royal officials and judges). Parishes were originally a way of dividing up the country into small areas, each of which would support a local church and clergy. Burghs were towns which enjoyed special privileges relating the regulation of trade and industry, and a certain amount of autonomy. From the 17th century until the mid-19th century ‘local government’ in Scotland is often characterised as rule by church and gentry (in parishes and counties) and by burgess oligarchy in the burghs.

                  Click on one of these for more detail:

                  Burghs (until 1975)

                  Commissioners of Supply

                  Justices of the Peace

                  Lieutenancy and Militia

                  Heritors

                  Kirk Sessions

                  Stewartries

                   

                  Modern local government

                  Social, economic, political and religious changes all played their part in the evolution of local government in the 18th and 19th centuries. The creation of parliamentary and police burghs, civil parishes, school boards, and a host of other local authorities transformed local government and improved the living conditions of millions of Scots in the face of enormous problems such as population growth, industrial pollution, disease and rising crime rates. In 1889 county councils were created with wide powers over landward areas (outwith burghs). The first half of the 20th century saw further rationalisation of local government, with more powers accruing to county councils and larger burghs. The division of counties, burghs and civil parishes was abolished in 1975.

                  Click on one of these for more detail:

                  Counties and parishes (until 1975)

                  Assessors

                  County Councils

                  County Road Trusts

                  Education Authorities (1918-1930)

                  Freeholders

                  Local Authorities under the Contagious Diseases Acts

                  Senior officials – Clerk

                  Senior officials – Chamberlain or Treasurer

                  Senior officials – Medical Officer of Health

                  Statute Labour Trusts

                  Turnpike Trusts

                  Parochial Boards and Parish Councils

                  School Boards

                  School Management Committees

                  District Committees (1889-1930)

                  District Councils (1930-1975)

                  District Lunacy Boards/District Boards of Control

                  Joint Hospital Boards

                  Police authorities

                  Special Drainage, Water Supply, Lighting and Scavenging districts

                  List of Counties, Cities, Large Burghs & Small Burghs

                  Local Government in Scotland since 1975

                  The 1973 Local Government (Scotland) Act abolished the centuries old system of counties, parishes and burghs in Scotland; replacing it with a two-tier system of regions and districts. This, in turn, was abolished in 1996 and replaced with the current system of single-tier authorities.

                  Between 1974 and 1996 (under the 1973 Local Government (Scotland) Act), most of Scotland had a two-tier system of local government, where 53 district councils were responsible for some functions and 9 regional councils were responsible for others. Three island areas (Western Isles, Orkney, and Shetland) were governed by single-tier island authorities. New Town Corporations operated in five towns in the central belt (Cumbernauld, East Kilbride, Glenrothes, Irvine, and Livingston), and shared responsibility for services such as housing, planning, and economic development with regional and district councils in each area.

                  From 1996 onwards, under the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994, single-tier councils were created which inherited most of the functions of regional, district, and island councils. New Town Corporations were wound up between 1991 and 1996. Some services, such as water and sewerage, were removed entirely from local government. Valuation became subject to independent local authorities, called Valuation Joint Boards and other services, such as policing and fire, were initially managed by joint arrangements and later removed from local government oversight.

                  Click on one of these for more detail:

                  Regional councils

                  District Councils (1975-1996)

                  Island councils

                  Community councils

                  New town corporations

                  Councils after 1996

                  List of regional, district, island and unitary councils

                  Bibliography

                  Bell, James & James Paton, Glasgow: Its Municipal Organization & Administration (J. MacLehose & Sons, 1896)

                  Ferguson, Keith, An introduction to local government in Scotland (The Planning Exchange, 1984)

                  Kerley, Richard with Mark Urquhart, Local authority organisation and management in Scotland 1975-1996 (Scottish Office Central Research Unit, 1997)

                  McConnell, Allan, Scottish Local Government (Edinburgh University Press, 2004)

                  Mackenzie, W. Mackay, The Scottish Burghs: an expanded version of the Rhind lectures in archaeology for 1945 (Oliver & Boyd, 1949)

                  Pryde, George S., Central and local government in Scotland since 1707 (Historical Association (Great Britain) 1960)

                  Urquhart, R. M., The Burghs of Scotland 5 vols. (Scottish Library Association, 1989-1992).

                  Whetstone, Ann E., Scottish County Government in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (John Donald, 1981)

                  Whyte, W. E., The Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1929 (Hodge & Co, 1929)

                   

                  Where can I see minutes of the meetings of a current local authority or its committees?

                  Most councils in Scotland provide online access to their minutes and committee minutes and have placed older minutes in their archives service. Check the council’s website or ask its contact centre about access.

                  Where can I see minutes of the meetings of a regional or district council or its committees?

                  The most likely source for these is the archives service of the successor local authority.

                  Did a particular town or suburb have a police force at one time?

                  Not all Scottish towns had separate police forces. Here is a list of those which did (with their dates of operation and the force which succeeded them). If the town concerned is not on this list it almost certainly did not have a separate police force, and was most likely served by the relevant county constabulary.

                  Aberdeen 1818-1975, successor force: Grampian.

                  Airdrie 1821-1967. Successor force: Lanark County.

                  Alloa 1822-1930. Successor force: Clackmannan County.

                  Anderston 1824-1846. Successor force: Glasgow City.

                  Annan 1858?-1881. Successor force: Dumfries County.

                  Arbroath 1836-1949. Successor force: Angus County.

                  Ardrossan 1859- ? Successor force: Ayr County.

                  Ayr 1845-1968. Successor force: Ayrshire.

                  Banff 1859-1886. Successor force: Banffshire.

                  Blairgowrie 1857-1875. Successor force: Perthshire.

                  Brechin 1859-1930. Successor force: Angus.

                  Broughty Ferry 1888-1913. Successor force: Dundee City.

                  Burntisland 1859-1861. Successor force: Fife.

                  Calton 1819-1846. Successor force: Glasgow City.

                  Campbeltown 1858-1863. Successor force: Argyllshire.

                  Coatbridge 1886-1867. Successor force: Lanarkshire.

                  Cromarty 1859-1868. Successor force: Cromarty County.

                  Cullen 1840-c.1861. Successor force: Elginshire.

                  Cupar 1859-1864. Successor force: Fife.

                  Dingwall 1859-1865. Successor force: Ross-shire.

                  Dumbarton 1855-1949. Successor force: Dunbartonshire.

                  Dumfries 1811-1932. Successor force: Dumfries-shire.

                  Dunbar 1844-1869. Successor force: East Lothian.

                  Dundee 1824-1975. Successor force: Tayside.

                  Dunfermline 1811-1949. Successor force: Fife.

                  Dysart 1858-1859? Successor force: Fife.

                  Edinburgh 1805-1975. Successor force: Lothian and Borders.

                  Elgin 1850-1893. Successor force: Morayshire.

                  Forfar 1857-1930. Successor force: Angus.

                  Forres c.1859-1867. Successor force: Morayshire.

                  Fraserburgh 1859-1866. Successor force: Aberdeenshire.

                  Galashiels 1850-1930. Successor force: Selkirkshire.

                  Gorbals 1808-1846. Successor force: Glasgow City.

                  Govan 1864-1912. Successor force: Glasgow.

                  Glasgow 1800-1975. Successor force: Strathclyde.

                  Greenock 1801-1967. Successor force: Renfrew and Bute.

                  Greenock Harbour 1817-1822, 1825-1843. Successor force: Greenock Burgh.

                  Haddington before 1857-1874. Successor force: East Lothian.

                  Hamilton 1855-1949, 1958-67. Successor force: Lanarkshire.

                  Hawick 1840-1930. Successor force: Roxburghshire.

                  Helensburgh 1846-1875. Successor force: Dunbartonshire.

                  Inverkeithing c.1859-1885. Successor force: Fife.

                  Inverness 1847-1968. Successor force: Inverness-shire.

                  Jedburgh 1857-1861. Successor force: Roxburghshire.

                  Johnstone 1857-1930. Successor force: Renfrewshire.

                  Kelso Burgh ?-1881. Successor force: Roxburghshire.

                  Kilmarnock 1846-1968. Successor force: Ayrshire.

                  Kilsyth 1840-? Successor force: Stirlingshire?

                  Kinning Park 1892-1905. Successor force: Glasgow City.

                  Kirkcaldy 1877-1949. Successor force: Fife.

                  Kirkintilloch 1838-1872. Successor force: Dunbartonshire.

                  Kirriemuir 1859-1891. Successor force: Forfarshire.

                  Leith 1859-1920. Successor force: Edinburgh City.

                  Lerwick 1892-1940. Successor force: Zetland.

                  Macduff 1859-1870. Successor force: Banffshire.

                  Maryhill 1856-1891. Successor force: Glasgow City.

                  Maxwelltown 1863-1890. Successor force: Kirkcudbrightshire.

                  Maybole 1859-1861. Successor force: Ayrshire.

                  Millport ? – ? Successor force: Bute?

                  Montrose 1833-1930. Successor force: Angus.

                  Motherwell & Wishaw 1930-1967. Successor force: Lanarkshire.

                  Musselburgh 1835-1841. Successor force: East Lothian.

                  Nairn 1859-1866. Successor force: Nairnshire.

                  Newburgh 1859-1969. Successor force: Fife.

                  North Berwick ? – 1857/8. Successor force: East Lothian.

                  Paisley 1806-1969. Successor force: Renfrew and Bute.

                  Partick 1858-1912. Successor force: Glasgow City.

                  Perth 1811-1964. Successor force: Perth and Kinross.

                  Port Glasgow 1857-1895. Successor force: Renfrewshire.

                  Pulteneytown 1858-1902. Successor force: Caithness-shire.

                  Renfrew 1857-1930. Successor force: Renfrewshire.

                  Rothesay 1846-1923. Successor force: Bute.

                  St Andrews 1858-1859? Successor force: Fife.

                  Stirling 1857-1938. Successor force: Stirlingshire.

                  Stranraer 1857-1870. Successor force: Wigtownshire.

                  Thurso 1841-1873. Successor force: Caithness-shire.

                  Wick Burgh Formed 1841-1858.  Successor force Caithness-shire.  Re-formed 1863-1873.  Successor force Caithness-shire.

                  Wishaw ?- 1859.  Successor force Lanarkshire.

                   

                  What was a police burgh?

                  Police burghs were towns where a local or general act of parliament provided for services (such as water supply, drainage, sewerage, policing, paving, street lighting and refuse disposal) to be supervised by an elected body of commissioners and funded by local rates. Not all police burghs had police forces.

                  In the second half of the 18th century and the first decades of the 19th century many burghs and other towns faced problems coping with industrial pollution, sewerage, water supply, public health and crime. In 1800 Glasgow obtained a local act of parliament to set up a system of policing, whereby a body of police commissioners, elected by householders, oversaw a police force, and the maintenance of paving, lighting and cleansing the streets. Other Scottish burghs obtained similar local acts in the next few years. In 1832 and 1833 legislation converted royal burghs and many burghs of barony and regality into parliamentary burghs with elected councils. The Burgh Police (Scotland) Act allowed burghs to adopt policing, paving, lighting and cleansing powers through a sheriff court process (which was much less expensive than an act of parliament). Under the Police of Towns (Scotland) Act 1850 and the General Police and Improvement (Scotland) Act 1862 these (and further public health) powers were extended to populous places, and the result was the creation of over 100 ‘police burghs’. The Burgh Police (Scotland) Act 1890 ended the anomaly whereby some burghs had an elected body of police commissioners and a town council and granted further powers to burghs.

                  School management committees

                  School management committees were set up by the Education (Scotland) Act 1918.[1] Under this Act, the education authority was required to set up a scheme for these committees to manage schools or groups of schools. They were composed of representatives of teachers, parents, and the education authority, and where denominational schools were included, at least one representative of the religious belief of the parents. They could also include members nominated by local bodies including the outgoing school board (which was abolished by the 1918 act).

                  School management committees were responsible for the general management and supervision of the schools including attendance of pupils and investigating cases of non-attendance but several major responsibilities such as appointing and dismissing teachers and acquiring land was reserved to the education authority. However, education authorities could delegate the management and supervision of continuation classes to the school management committees.

                  School management committees were replaced by sub-committees of the relevant education committee when local government was reorganised in 1947.[2]

                  Records of school management committees are held by local authority archives services.

                  Compilers: SCAN contributors (2000). Editor: Elspeth Reid (2021)

                  Related Knowledge Base entries

                  School Boards

                  Education authorities

                  Education records

                  Education

                  County Councils

                  References

                  [1] Education (Scotland) Act 1918 (8 & 9 Geo. V c.48) s.2.

                  [2] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. VI c.43) s.109.

                  School boards

                  A reference in this entry in the Knowledge Base uses the formal name of an act of parliament which includes obsolete terminology.

                  School boards were set up in 1873 and abolished in 1918. The Education (Scotland) Act 1872 created school boards in Scotland with a statutory duty to provide education for all children between the ages of 5 and 13.[1] School boards were to be elected within twelve months of the Act for every parish, royal burgh and parliamentary burgh. They were overseen by the Scotch (sic) Education Department and a Board of Education for Scotland, which was initially established for 3 years to advise the Scotch Education Department(SED) on the distribution of parliamentary grants, to determine the number of members of each local school board and decide if school boards of small parishes should be combined. The new local school boards were elected by owners and occupiers (including women) of property of the value of £4 or over.

                  School boards were responsible for managing the schools, including construction and maintenance of buildings, appointment of teachers and attendance of pupils. These schools could include ‘higher class public schools’ with university graduates as teachers, with 11 such burgh schools identified in the Act.[2] From 1878 they were permitted to exempt children over 8 from school for casual employment in agriculture or fisheries and given powers of compulsory purchase.[3] The school leaving age was raised to 14 in 1883 but there was provision between 1878 and 1901 for school boards to exempt children as young as 10 if they had achieved a certificate showing a minimum standard of education.[4] Provision for secondary education was not compulsory but if it was provided, school boards were required to set up secondary education committees by an SED circular of 1897.[5] From 1906 they were given powers to provide special education for children with disabilities up to age 16.[6]

                  School boards were given additional powers and responsibilities in 1908 including the power to incur expenses in providing facilities for school meals, providing transport for pupils or lodging where this was less expensive than transport costs, providing schoolbooks, stationery and other materials, contributing to costs for special education for children with disabilities up to age 16 and the power to prosecute parents for wilful neglect. School boards also had to provide continuation classes for those older than 14 including instruction in agriculture and domestic crafts.[7]

                  School boards were abolished by the Education (Scotland) Act 1918 and replaced by education authorities and school management committees.[8]

                  Records of school boards are held by local authority archives services.

                  Compilers: SCAN contributors (2000). Editor: Elspeth Reid (2021)

                  Related Knowledge Base entries

                  Education authorities

                  School Management Committees

                  Education records

                  Education

                  County Councils

                  Bibliography

                  Anderson, R. D., Education and the Scottish people, 1750-1918 (Clarendon Press, 1995)

                  Anderson, Robert, Mark Freeman and Lindsay Paterson, The Edinburgh History of Education in Scotland (Edinburgh University Press, 2015)

                  Lindsay, Alison, ‘Sources for the Study of Education in the Scottish Record Office’ Scottish Archives 3 (1997), pp. 61-68

                  Watson, Gilbert ‘Education’ in Source book and history of administrative law in Scotland ed. by M. R. McLarty (Hodge, 1956), pp. 105-17

                   

                  References

                  [1] Education (Scotland) Act 1872 (35 & 36 Vict. c.62).

                  [2] Education (Scotland) Act 1872 (35 & 36 Vict. c.62) s.62 & Sch.C.

                  [3] Education (Scotland) Act 1878 (41 & 42 Vict. c.78) s.7(3), s.31.

                  [4] Education (Scotland) Act 1883 (46 & 47 Vict. c.56); Education (Scotland) Act 1878 (41 & 42 Vict. c.78).

                  [5] National Records of Scotland GB234 ED44/1/4 Scotch Education Department circular 1897; Education (Scotland) Act 1908 (8 Edw. VII c.63) s.16(2)

                  [6] Education of Defective Children (Scotland) Act 1906 (6 Edw. VII c.10).

                  [7] Education (Scotland) Act, 1908 (8 Edw. 7 c.63).

                  [8] Education (Scotland) Act 1918 (8 & 9 Geo. V c.48).

                  Regional Councils

                  Regional councils in Scotland were established under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.[1] This established a two-tier system of local government with nine regional councils and 53 district councils along with three islands councils (Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles) which were single tier authorities. The nine regional councils were Strathclyde, Lothian, Dumfries & Galloway, Central, Tayside, Highland, Grampian, Borders and Fife. Regional councils were first elected in 1974 and acted as shadow authorities until May 1975, when they assumed full powers.

                  Regional councils had responsibility for education, social work, roads and road safety, public transport, careers service, highways lighting, trading standards, weights and measures, water and sewerage, flood prevention, coast protection, fire services, police services, civil defence, diseases of animals, strategic planning, industrial promotion, valuations and rating, electoral registration and registration of births, marriages and deaths. They also had responsibilities for making proper arrangements for their records. The regional councils of the three least populated mainland regions – Highland, Borders and Dumfries and Galloway – were also given responsibilities for libraries and building control although in the rest of the mainland this was a district council responsibility. Lothian and Borders, and Highland and the islands councils were combined for the purposes of police and fire.

                  From 1975 regional councils were also required to co-operate with district councils to deliver some functions. However, in 1982, various responsibilities were re-allocated.[2] Regional councils ceased to have responsibilities for entertainment, tourism, food and drugs enforcement, public conveniences, markets, public clocks, roadside seats and war memorials. The role of regional councils in industrial promotion and planning was also clarified.

                  Regional, islands and district councils were abolished in 1996 and replaced by a single-tier local government structure.[3]

                  Records of regional councils are held by local authority archives services. Strathclyde records are held by Glasgow City Archives, Lothian by Edinburgh City Archives, Dumfries & Galloway by Dumfries & Galloway Archives, Central by Stirling Council Archives, Tayside by Dundee City Archives, Highland by Highland Archives, Grampian by Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives, Borders by Scottish Borders Archives and Fife by Fife Archives. Other local authority archives services also hold duplicates of some regional council records.

                  Compilers: SCAN contributors (2000). Editor: Elspeth Reid (2021)

                  Related Knowledge Base entries

                  District Councils 1975-1996.

                  District Councils 1930-1975.

                  Islands Councils

                  Bibliography

                  Ferguson, Keith, An introduction to local government in Scotland (The Planning Exchange, 1984)

                  Kerley, Richard with Mark Urquhart, Local authority organisation and management in Scotland 1975-1996 (Scottish Office Central Research Unit, 1997)

                  McConnell, Allan, Scottish Local Government (Edinburgh University Press, 2004)

                   

                  References

                  [1] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c.65).

                  [2] Local Government and Planning (Scotland) Act 1982 (c.43).

                  [3] Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994 (c.39).

                  Police Authorities

                  Police Authorities

                  Police authorities were the bodies which appointed the chief constable of a police force and supervised the force’s operations. In Scotland, these bodies were local authorities, until all Scottish police forces were merged into a single national police force in 2013.

                  In burghs before the 19th century the magistrates were responsible for maintaining law and order, and they were able to appoint constables or watchmen. In 1800, a local act of parliament for Glasgow enabled the appointment of police commissioners who were given responsibilities for ‘regulating the police and appointing watchmen’.[1] Following this, other local acts of parliament to improve burghs usually made provision for the election of police commissioners who could be the existing magistrates or a separate body. From 1847, towns which adopted the general police acts elected police commissioners.[2]After 1857 towns could prevent control of the burgh police going to the commissioners of supply of the county by claiming the right to be police burghs: these burghs, such as Stirling, created a body known as the commissioners of police, which sat alongside the town council and was made up of many of the same people.[3] Thus, until 1892, police commissioners could either be the magistrates and town council of the burgh or a separate body, depending on the method of adopting police powers.  In 1892 only those burghs with 7000 or more inhabitants were allowed to keep their police forces, and new forces were restricted to burghs with a population of over 20,000.[4] Police commissioners were abolished in 1900 and replaced by a town council.[5]  Thereafter responsibilities for police forces in burghs lay with the town council, which generally appointed a police committee to supervise the burgh police force.

                  In counties, police committees were generally set up after the commissioners of supply were empowered to set up police forces by the Rogue Money (Scotland) Act 1839.[6] This provided the funding for a constabulary and enabled commissioners of supply to unite with another county for this purpose. The Police (Scotland) Act 1857 required all counties which had not already done so to appoint a police committee made up of commissioners of supply, the lord lieutenant and the sheriff of the county and to appoint a police force.[7]

                  The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 transferred the powers and duties of the police committees to standing joint committees composed of county councillors, commissioners of supply and the sheriff-principal.[8] Standing joint committees also had an important role in the administration of county finances: county councils wanting to borrow or undertake capital expenditure had to obtain their consent. They were abolished by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929.[9]

                  After 1929, many police forces were amalgamated and the police authorities therefore worked together in joint police committees made up of representatives from the local authorities within the boundaries of the amalgamated force. Under the Police (Scotland) Act 1967, police authorities were defined as the town council of burghs with police forces and the county council for counties, with the proviso that this was subject to any amalgamation scheme.[10] Joint police committees were constituted where police areas extended beyond a single local authority. Under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, the regional councils and islands councils became the police authorities, again subject to any amalgamation scheme.[11] In 1996 there was no change to the existing police areas and the police authorities were the new unitary councils, meeting as joint police committees.[12] The eight police authorities were replaced by the Scottish Police Authority in 2013.[13]

                  The records of police authorities before 1996 are held by local authority archives services.  Records of some local police authorities after 1996 were transferred to the Scottish Police Authority.

                  Compilers: SCAN contributors (2000). Editors:  Pam McNicol (Stirling Council Archives, 2021), Elspeth Reid (2021)

                  Related Knowledge Base entries

                  Policing and Police Forces

                  Police – Burgh Police Forces

                  Police – County Constabularies

                  Police amalgamations and reorganisations

                  Police records (introduction)

                  Police authority minutes

                  Police Chief Constable annual reports

                  Police Chief Constable letter books

                  Police correspondence files, case files & administrative files

                  Police instruction books & manuals

                  Police licensing and similar records

                  Police memoranda books

                  Police photographs

                  Police staff records or personnel records

                  Police station records

                  Bibliography

                  Barrie, G., Police in the Age of Improvement: police development and the civic tradition in Scotland 1775-1865 (Willan, 2008)

                  Dinsmor, Alastair, and Robert H. J. Urquhart, ‘The Origins of Modern Policing in Scotland’ Scottish Archives, 7 (2001), pp. 36-44

                  Harrison, John G., ‘Policing the Stirling Area, 1660-1706’ Scottish Archives, 7 (2001), pp. 16-24

                  Stallion, Martin and David S. Wall, The British Police: Forces and Chief Officers 1829-2012 (Police History Society, 2011)

                  Stewart, Marion M., ‘A Policeman’s Lot: Police Records in Dumfries and Galloway, 1850-1950’ Scottish Archives, 7 (2001), pp. 25-35

                   

                  References

                  [1] Glasgow City Extension and Improvement Act 1800 (39 & 40 Geo. III c.lxxxviii).

                  [2] Burgh Police (Scotland) Act 1847 (10 & 11 Vict. c.39)

                  [3] Police (Scotland) Act 1857 (20 & 21 Vict. c.72).

                  [4] Burgh Police (Scotland) Act, 1892 (55 & 56 Vict. c.55).

                  [5] Town Councils (Scotland) Act, 1900 (63 & 64 Vict. c.49).

                  [6] Rogue Money (Scotland) Act 1839 (2 & 3 Vict. c.65).

                  [7] Police (Scotland) Act 1857 (20 & 21 Vict. c.72).

                  [8] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c.50).

                  [9] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 (19 & 20 Geo. V c.25).

                  [10] Police (Scotland) Act 1967 (c.77).

                  [11] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c.65) s.146

                  [12] Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994 (c.39) ss.34-35

                  [13] Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 (asp 8).

                  Police reorganisations

                  Throughout the later 19th century and the 20th century many burgh constabularies were absorbed by county or city constabularies, and several constabularies amalgamated. Following the Police (Scotland) Act 1857, the Inspectors of Constabulary for Scotland advised that smaller police forces should be amalgamated with counties or nearby burghs, and this view was repeated by various committees in the 20th century.[1]

                  In 1889 the counties of Ross and Cromarty, including their police forces, were united.[2] In 1930 the constabularies of Perthshire & Kinross-shire combined, and likewise the constabularies of Moray & Nairnshire.[3]

                  Following legislation in 1946, several large forces were created between 1948 and 1950.[4] These were Scottish North-Eastern Counties (Aberdeenshire, Banffshire, Kincardineshire, Morayshire and Nairnshire); Berwick, Roxburgh & Selkirk; Renfrewshire & Bute; Stirling & Clackmannan; Dumfries & Galloway (Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire); and Lothian & Peebles (East Lothian, Midlothian, Peeblesshire, and West Lothian).

                  In 1963 the forces of Ross & Cromarty and Sutherland combined to form the Ross & Sutherland Constabulary, and in 1969 the Northern Constabulary was formed from the constabularies of Caithness, Orkney and Zetland. In 1975 all county, burgh and amalgamated constabularies were replaced by eight police forces (Strathclyde, Lothian & Borders, Grampian, Tayside, Fife, Central, Northern, and Dumfries and Galloway), supervised by regional council police committees.[5] These eight forces were amalgamated into Police Scotland in 2013.[6]

                  Police Scotland is responsible for the surviving historical records of its predecessor police forces and has agreements with a number of local authority archives to hold many of these records which are no longer required for operational purposes (see police records locations for details).

                  Compilers: SCAN contributors (2000).

                  Related Knowledge Base entries

                  Policing and Police Forces

                  Police records locations

                  Police – Burgh police forces

                  Police – County Constabularies

                  Police – List of police forces in Scotland

                  Police records introduction

                  Bibliography

                  Davidson, Neil, Louise A. Jackson and David M. Smale ‘Police Amalgamation and Reform in Scotland: The Long Twentieth Century’ The Scottish Historical Review, 95.1: No 240 (2016), pp. 88-111

                  Dinsmor, Alastair, and Robert H. J. Urquhart, ‘The Origins of Modern Policing in Scotland’ Scottish Archives, 7 (2001), pp. 36-44

                  Stallion, Martin and David S. Wall, The British police: forces and chief officers 1829-2012 (Police History Society, 2011)

                   

                  References

                  [1] Police (Scotland) Act 1857 (20 & 21 Vict. c.72); Neil Davidson, Louis A. Jackson and David M Smale ‘Police Amalgamation and Reform in Scotland: The Long Twentieth Century’ The Scottish Historical Review, 95.1: No 240 (2016) pp. 88-111 (pp.93, 97-98).

                  [2] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 (57 & 58 Vict. c.58).

                  [3] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 (19 & 20 Geo. V c.25) s.10(7).

                  [4] Police (Scotland) Act 1946 (9 & 10 Geo. VI c.71).

                  [5] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c.65).

                  [6] Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 (asp 8).

                  Police – List of police forces in Scotland

                  Police Forces in Scotland, 1800-2013

                  This list is of police forces in the modern sense (full time constables and officers, supervised by an elected police authority, and funded by local taxation). It has been compiled from information published in Martin Stallion and David S. Wall, The British Police: Forces and Chief Officers 1829-2012 (Police History Society, 2011); R. M. Urquhart, The Burghs of Scotland 5 vols (Scottish Library Association, 1989-92); David G. Barrie, Police in the Age of Improvement: police development and the civic tradition in Scotland 1775-1865 (Willan, 2008) and from information supplied by archivists in Scotland who hold police records.  However, the dates given should be used with caution, as the dates given by Stallion and Wall are based on printed sources rather than on the records produced by police forces and local authorities.

                  Police Scotland is responsible for the surviving historical records of its predecessor police forces and has agreements with a number of local authority archives to hold many of these records which are no longer required for operational purposes (see police records locations for details).

                  Compilers: SCAN contributors (2000).

                  REGIONAL POLICE FORCES, 1975-2013

                  Central Scotland Police Formed 1975 (from Stirling & Clackmannan, part of Perth & Kinross and part of Lothians & Peebles).  Abolished 2013.  Successor force:  Police Scotland

                  Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary Formed 1948.  Abolished 2013.  Successor force:  Police Scotland

                  Fife Constabulary Formed 1840 as Fife County Constabulary.  Abolished 2013.  Successor force:  Police Scotland

                  Grampian Police Formed 1975 (merger of Aberdeen and Scottish North Eastern Counties).  Abolished 2013.  Successor force:  Police Scotland

                  Lothian and Borders Police Formed 1975 (merger of Berwick Roxburgh & Selkirk, Edinburgh City and Lothians & Peebles).  Abolished 2013.  Successor force:  Police Scotland

                  Northern Constabulary Formed 1969 (merger of Caithness-shire, Orkney and Shetland).  Abolished 2013.  Successor force:  Police Scotland

                  Strathclyde Police Formed 1975 (merger of Argyllshire, Ayrshire, Dunbartonshire, Glasgow City, Lanarkshire, Renfrew & Bute and part of Stirling & Clackmannan).  Abolished 2013.  Successor force:  Police Scotland

                  Tayside Police Formed 1975 (merger of Angus, Dundee City and Perth & Kinross).  Abolished 2013.  Successor force:  Police Scotland

                   

                  CITY CONSTABULARIES before 1975

                  Aberdeen Formed 1818.  Abolished 1975.  Successor force: Grampian

                  Dundee Formed 1824.  Abolished 1975.  Successor force: Tayside.

                  Edinburgh City Formed 1805.  Abolished 1975.  Successor force: Lothian and Borders

                  Glasgow City Formed 1800.  Abolished 1975.  Successor force: Strathclyde.

                   

                  AMALGAMATED POLICE FORCES before 1975

                  Berwick, Roxburgh & Selkirk Formed 1948 (merger of Berwickshire, Roxburghshire and Selkirkshire).  Abolished 1975.  Successor force: Lothian and Borders

                  Dumfries & Galloway Formed 1948 (merger of Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire). Abolished 2013. Successor force: Police Scotland

                  Lothian & Peebles Formed 1950 (merger of East Lothian, Midlothian, Peeblesshire and West Lothian).  Abolished 1975.  Successor force: Lothian and Borders.

                  Moray & Nairn Formed 1930 (merger of Morayshire and Nairnshire).  Abolished 1949.  Successor force: Scottish North-Eastern Counties.

                  Northern Formed 1969 (merger of Caithness-shire, Orkney and Shetland). Abolished 2013. Successor force: Police Scotland.

                  Perth & Kinross Formed 1964 (merger of Perth City and Perthshire & Kinross-shire.  Abolished 1975.  Successor force: Tayside.

                  Perthshire & Kinross-shire Formed 1930 (merger of Perthshire and Kinross-shire).  Abolished 1964 (on amalgamation with Perth City Police).  Successor force: Perth & Kinross.

                  Renfrew & Bute Formed 1949 merger of Renfrewshire and Bute).  Abolished 1975.  Successor force: Strathclyde.

                  Ross & Sutherland Formed 1963 (merger of Ross & Cromarty and Sutherland).  Abolished 1975.  Successor force: Northern.

                  Scottish North-Eastern Counties Formed 1949 (merger of Aberdeenshire, Banffshire, Kincardineshire and Moray & Nairn).  Abolished 1975.  Successor force: Grampian.

                  Stirling & Clackmannan Formed 1949 (merger of Clackmannanshire and Stirlingshire).  Abolished 1975.  Successor force: Central Scotland

                   

                  COUNTY CONSTABULARIES

                  Aberdeenshire Formed 1840.  Abolished 1949.  Successor force: Scottish North-Eastern Counties.

                  Angus Formed 1840 (as Forfarshire, renamed Angus in 1928).  Abolished 1975.  Successor force: Tayside.

                  Argyllshire Formed 1840.  Abolished 1975.  Successor force: Strathclyde.

                  Ayrshire Formed 1839.  Abolished 1975.  Successor force: Strathclyde.

                  Banffshire Formed 1840.  Abolished 1949.  Successor force: Scottish North-Eastern Counties.

                  Berwickshire Formed 1850.  Abolished 1948.  Successor force: Berwick, Roxburgh and Selkirk.

                  Bute Formed 1858.  Abolished 1949.  Successor force: Renfrewshire and Bute.

                  Caithness-shire Formed 1858.  Abolished 1969.  Successor force: Northern.

                  Clackmannanshire Formed 1850.  Abolished 1949.  Successor force: Stirling and Clackmannan

                  Cromarty County Formed c.1867.  Abolished 1889.  Successor force: Ross and Cromarty.

                  Dumfriesshire Formed 1838.  Abolished 1948.  Successor force: Dumfries and Galloway.

                  Dunbartonshire Formed 1840.  Abolished 1975.  Successor force: Strathclyde

                  East Lothian (Haddingtonshire) Formed 1832.  Abolished 1950.  Successor force: Lothians and Peebles.

                  Edinburghshire – see Midlothian

                  Elginshire – see Morayshire

                  Fife Formed 1840. Abolished 2013.  Successor force: Police Scotland

                  Forfarshire – see Angus

                  Haddingtonshire – see East Lothian

                  Inverness-shire Formed 1840.  Abolished 1975.  Successor force: Northern.

                  Kincardineshire Formed 1841.  Abolished 1949.  Successor force: Scottish North-Eastern Counties.

                  Kinross-shire Formed 1836.  Abolished 1930.  Successor force: Perthshire and Kinross-shire

                  Kirkcudbrightshire Stallion & Wall state that the force was formed in 1839, but other dates suggested for formation are 1843 and 1849.  Abolished 1948.  Successor force: Dumfries and Galloway.

                  Lanarkshire Formed 1857.  Abolished 1975.  Successor force: Strathclyde.

                  Linlithgowshire – see West Lothian

                  Midlothian Formed 1840 (as Edinburghshire).  Abolished 1950.  Successor force: Lothian and Peebles.

                  Morayshire Formed 1844 (as Elginshire, name changed to Morayshire in 1890).  Abolished 1930.  Successor force: Moray and Nairn.

                  Nairnshire Formed 1850.  Abolished 1930.  Successor force: Moray and Nairn

                  Orkney Formed 1858.  Abolished 1969.  Successor force: Northern.

                  Peeblesshire Formed 1841.  Abolished 1950.  Successor force: Lothian and Peebles.

                  Perthshire Formed 1839.  Abolished 1930.  Successor force: Perthshire and Kinross-shire.

                  Renfrewshire Formed 1840.  Abolished 1949.  Successor force: Renfrew & Bute.

                  Ross-shire Formed 1858.  Abolished 1889.  Successor force Ross & Cromarty

                  Ross and Cromarty Formed 1889. Abolished 1963.  Successor force: Ross and Sutherland.

                  Roxburghshire Formed 1840.  Abolished 1948.  Successor force: Berwick, Roxburgh & Selkirk.

                  Selkirkshire Formed 1842.  Abolished 1948.  Successor force: Berwick, Roxburgh & Selkirk.

                  Shetland Formed 1883 (renamed Zetland 1940).  Abolished 1969.  Successor force: Northern.

                  Stirlingshire Formed 1850.  Abolished 1949.  Successor force: Stirling & Clackmannan

                  Sutherland Formed 1850.  Abolished 1963.  Successor force: Ross and Sutherland.

                  West Lothian Formed 1840 (as Linlithgowshire).  Abolished 1950.  Successor force: Lothians & Peebles.

                  Wester Ross Formed 1850. Abolished 1853. Successor force Ross.

                  Wigtownshire Formed 1838.  Abolished 1948.  Successor force: Dumfries & Galloway.

                   

                  BURGH AND OTHER CONSTABULARIES

                  Aberdeen Harbour Formed – not known.  Abolished 1854.  Successor force: Aberdeen

                  Airdrie Burgh Formed 1821.  Abolished 1967.  Successor force: Lanarkshire

                  Alloa Burgh Formed 1822.  Abolished 1930.  Successor force: Clackmannanshire

                  Anderston Burgh Formed 1824.  Abolished 1846.  Successor force: Glasgow City

                  Annan Burgh Formed 1858? Abolished 1881.  Successor force: Dumfries-shire.

                  Arbroath Burgh Formed 1836.  Abolished 1949.  Successor force: Angus County.

                  Ardrossan Burgh Formed 1859.  Abolished 1878 Successor force: Ayrshire.

                  Ayr Burgh Formed 1845.  Abolished 1968.  Successor force: Ayrshire.

                  Banff Burgh Formed circa 1859.  Abolished 1886.  Successor force: Banffshire.

                  Blairgowrie Burgh Formed 1857. Abolished 1875.  Successor force: Perthshire.

                  Brechin Burgh Formed 1859.  Abolished 1930.  Successor force: Angus.

                  Broughty Ferry Burgh Formed 1888.  Abolished 1913.  Successor force: Dundee.

                  Burntisland Burgh Formed 1859.  Abolished 1861.  Successor force: Fife.

                  Calton Burgh Formed 1819.  Abolished 1846.  Successor force: Glasgow City.

                  Campbeltown Burgh Formed 1858.  Abolished 1863.  Successor force: Argyllshire.

                  Clyde River Police Formed 1862.  Abolished 1867.  Successor force: Glasgow City.

                  Coatbridge Burgh Formed 1886.  Abolished 1967.  Successor force: Lanarkshire.

                  Cromarty Burgh Formed 1859.  Abolished 1868.  Successor force: Cromarty County

                  Cullen Burgh Stallion & Wall state that a force was formed in 1840 and was absorbed by Elginshire around 1861. However, Cullen burgh was in the county of Banff, not Elginshire. The Banffshire Police Committee minutes record that in 1859 the Provost of Cullen was asked whether the burgh intended to establish a force. Although there is no record of a reply, the Chief Constable of Banffshire was instructed later that year to appoint a constable for Cullen burgh ‘ with the least possible delay’ [Aberdeen City Archives: BC1/2/1, page 22]. The Banffshire Commissioners of Supply collected a police assessment from the burgh, which suggests that the burgh did not have its own force.

                  Cupar Burgh Formed 1859.  Abolished 1864.  Successor force: Fife.

                  Dingwall Burgh Formed 1859.  Abolished 1865.  Successor force: Ross.

                  Dumbarton Burgh Formed 1855.  Abolished 1949.  Successor force: Dunbartonshire

                  Dumfries Burgh A form of police force seems to have existed in the burgh from 1788, but a regular force probably dates from 1811.  Abolished 1932.  Successor force: Dumfries-shire.

                  Dunbar Burgh Formed 1844.  Abolished 1869.  Successor force: East Lothian.

                  Dunfermline Burgh Formed 1811.  Abolished 1949.  Successor force: Fife

                  Dysart Burgh Formed 1858.  Abolished 1859? Successor force: Fife

                  Elgin Burgh Formed 1850.  Abolished 1893.  Successor force: Morayshire (known as Elginshire until 1890)

                  Forfar Burgh Formed 1857.  Abolished 1930.  Successor force: Angus.

                  Forres Burgh Formed c.1859.  Abolished 1866.  Successor force: Morayshire.

                  Fraserburgh Burgh Formed 1850. Stallion & Wall say 1859, but the minutes of the Fraserburgh Police Commissioners, 12 August 1850, record a resolution to employ four supernumerary constables during the herring fishing ‘to patrol chiefly on Saturday nights from 3pm to 1 o’clock’, or until the streets shall be quiet and clear of disorderly people, and to co-operate with the towns sergeant and that there [sic] attention be directed to tippling houses’. The Police Commissioners also resolved to stop paying the county police rates at this time. There is no mention of a special establishment, but the officers continue to be mentioned in the minutes thereafter.  Abolished 1866.  Successor force: Aberdeenshire.

                  Galashiels Burgh Formed 1850.  Abolished 1930.  Successor force: Selkirkshire.

                  Glasgow Airport Formed 1966. Abolished 1975. Successor force Strathclyde.

                  Gorbals Although not a burgh, the barony of the Gorbals maintained a police force under a local act of parliament. Formed 1808.  Abolished 1846.  Successor force: Glasgow City.

                  Govan Burgh Formed 1864.  Abolished 1912.  Successor force: Glasgow

                  Greenock Burgh Formed 1801.  Abolished 1967.  Successor force: Renfrew and Bute.

                  Greenock Harbour Formed 1817.  Abolished 1822.  Successor force: Greenock Burgh. Reformed 1825.  Abolished 1843.  Successor force: Greenock Burgh.

                  Haddington Burgh Formed before 1857.  Abolished 1874.  Successor force: East Lothian.

                  Hamilton Burgh Formed 1855.  Abolished 1949.  Successor force: Lanarkshire. Reformed 1958.  Abolished 1967.  Successor force: Lanarkshire.

                  Hawick Burgh Formed 1840.  Abolished 1930.  Successor force: Roxburghshire.

                  Helensburgh Burgh Formed 1846.  Abolished 1875.  Successor force: Dunbartonshire.

                  Inverkeithing Burgh Formed c.1859.  Abolished 1885.  Successor force: Fife.

                  Inverness Burgh Formed 1847.  Abolished 1968.  Successor force: Inverness-shire

                  Jedburgh Burgh Formed 1857.  Abolished 1861.  Successor force: Roxburghshire.

                  Johnstone Burgh Formed 1857.  Abolished 1930.  Successor force: Renfrewshire.

                  Kelso Burgh Formed 1854.  Abolished 1881.  Successor force: Roxburghshire.

                  Kilmarnock Burgh Formed 1846.  Abolished 1968.  Successor force: Ayrshire

                  Kilsyth Burgh Formed 1840.  Abolished ? Successor force: Stirlingshire?

                  Kinning Park Burgh Formed 1892.  Abolished 1905.  Successor force: Glasgow City.

                  Kirkcaldy Burgh Formed 1877.  Abolished 1949.  Successor force: Fife.

                  Kirkintilloch Burgh Formed 1838.  Abolished 1872.  Successor force: Dunbartonshire.

                  Kirriemuir Burgh Formed 1859.  Abolished 1891.  Successor force: Forfarshire.

                  Leith Burgh Formed 1859.  Abolished 1920.  Successor force: Edinburgh City.

                  Lerwick Burgh Formed 1892.  Abolished 1940.  Successor force: Zetland.

                  Macduff Burgh Formed 1859.  Abolished 1870.  Successor force: Banffshire.

                  Maryhill Burgh Formed 1856.  Abolished 1891.  Successor force: Glasgow City.

                  Maxwelltown Burgh Formed 1863.  Abolished 1890.  Successor force: Kirkcudbrightshire.

                  Maybole Burgh Formed 1859.  Abolished 1861.  Successor force: Ayrshire.

                  Montrose Burgh Formed 1833.  Abolished 1930.  Successor force: Angus.

                  Motherwell & Wishaw Burgh Formed 1930.  Abolished 1967.  Successor force: Lanarkshire.

                  Musselburgh Burgh Formed 1835.  Abolished 1841.  Successor force: East Lothian.

                  Nairn Burgh Formed 1859.  Abolished 1866.  Successor force: Nairnshire.

                  Newburgh Burgh Formed 1859.  Abolished 1969.  Successor force: Fife.

                  North Berwick Burgh Formed ? Abolished 1857/8.  Successor force: Haddingtonshire (East Lothian)

                  Paisley Burgh Formed 1806.  Abolished 1969 1967.  Successor force: Renfrew and Bute.

                  Partick Burgh Formed 1858.  Abolished 1912.  Successor force: Glasgow City.

                  Perth Burgh Formed 1811.  Abolished 1964.  Successor force: Perth and Kinross By 1964 the force was named Perth City Police, but it is not clear when the change of name took place.

                  Port Glasgow Burgh Formed 1857.  Abolished 1895.  Successor force: Renfrewshire.

                  Portobello Formed 1858. Abolished 1859. Successor force: Midlothian

                  Pulteneytown Formed 1858 [by the British Fisheries Society].  Abolished 1902.  Successor force: Caithness-shire

                  Renfrew Burgh Formed 1857.  Abolished 1930.  Successor force: Renfrewshire.

                  Rothesay Burgh Formed 1846.  Abolished 1923.  Successor force: Bute.

                  St Andrews Burgh Formed 1858?  Abolished 1859? Successor force: Fife.

                  Stirling Burgh Formed 1857.  Abolished 1938.  Successor force: Stirlingshire.

                  Stranraer Burgh Formed 1857.  Abolished 1870.  Successor force: Wigtownshire.

                  Thurso Burgh Formed 1841.  Abolished 1873.  Successor force: Caithness-shire

                  Wick Burgh Formed 1841. Abolished 1858.  Successor force Caithness-shire.  Re-formed 1863.  Abolished 1873. Successor force Caithness-shire.

                  Wishaw Formed not known.  Abolished 1859.  Successor force Lanarkshire.

                   

                  Police – County Constabularies

                  From the 17th century until the mid-19th century, justices of the peace (JPs) were empowered to appoint two constables in each parish, whose duties included attending the quarter sessions court, reporting crimes and serving warrants.[1] The funding for this was supposed to come from the rogue money, a local tax levied specifically to pay for the apprehension of criminals, collected by the commissioners of supply in each county.  These parish constables were not well funded, and the work was unpopular. By 1800 a few counties were experimenting with chief constables and county constabularies. The Rogue Money (Scotland) Act, 1839, which allowed commissioners of supply to make an additional assessment for establishing and maintaining a constabulary, led to the setting up of several county constabularies.[2] However, reform of county policing throughout Scotland did not occur until the Police (Scotland) Act, 1857, which compelled all counties in Scotland who had not already done so to establish and maintain a police force.[3]

                  County police forces were appointed and supervised by a police committee or a constabulary committee made up of commissioners of supply, the Lord Lieutenant of the county and the sheriff of the county.[4] The Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1889 transferred the powers of the former police committees or constabulary committees of the commissioners of supply to standing joint committees.[5] These were composed of equal numbers of county councillors and commissioners of supply and the sheriff-principal. These, in turn, were abolished by the Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1929, which placed supervision of county constabularies under police committees of county councils.[6] In 1947 all local authorities operating a police force were required to have a police committee.[7]

                  Although legislation required that every county would have a police force, it also enabled police authorities to develop an amalgamation scheme.

                  County police forces ceased to exist when counties were abolished as part of local government reorganisation in 1975. Instead, police forces were reorganised on a regional basis, (subject to any amalgamations), and the regional and islands councils became the police authority for the police force in their area.[8]

                  Police Scotland is responsible for the surviving historical records of its predecessor police forces and has agreements with a number of local authority archives to hold many of these records which are no longer required for operational purposes (see police records locations for details).

                  Compilers: SCAN contributors (2000). Editors: Pam McNicol (Stirling Council Archives, 2021), Elspeth Reid (2021)

                  Related Knowledge Base entries

                  Police and Policing (introduction)

                  Police – Burgh Police Forces

                  Police amalgamations and reorganisations

                  Police Authorities

                  Police records (introduction)

                  Police authority minutes

                  Police predecessors’ records

                  Police Chief Constable annual reports

                  Police Chief Constable letter books

                  Police correspondence files, case files & administrative files

                  Police instruction books & manuals

                  Police licensing and similar records

                  Police memoranda books

                  Police photographs

                  Police staff records or personnel records

                  Police station records

                  Bibliography

                  Barrie, David G., Police in the Age of Improvement: police development and the civic tradition in Scotland 1775-1865 (Willan, 2008)

                  Davidson, Neil, Louise A. Jackson and David M. Smale ‘Police Amalgamation and Reform in Scotland: The Long Twentieth Century’ The Scottish Historical Review, 45.1: No 240 (2016), pp. 88-111

                  Dinsmor, Alastair, and Robert H. J. Urquhart, ‘The Origins of Modern Policing in Scotland’ Scottish Archives, 7 (2001), pp. 36-44

                  Harrison, John G., ‘Policing the Stirling Area, 1660-1706’ Scottish Archives, 7 (2001), pp. 16-24

                  Smale, David, ‘Alfred John List and the Development of Policing in the Counties of Scotland, c. 1832-77’ Journal of Scottish Historical Studies 33.1 (2013), pp. 52-80.

                  Stallion, Martin and David S. Wall, The British police: forces and chief officers 1829-2012 (Police History Society, 2011)

                  Stewart, Marion M., ‘A Policeman’s Lot: Police Records in Dumfries and Galloway, 1850-1950’ Scottish Archives, 7 (2001), pp. 25-35

                   

                  References

                  [1] Act Anent the justices for keiping of the kingis majesties peace and their constables’ The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707 ed. by K.M. Brown and others (University of St Andrews, 2007-2021), 1617/5/22. <http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/1617/5/22 >[accessed 8 June 2021].

                  [2] Rogue Money (Scotland) Act 1839 (2 & 3 Vict. c.65).

                  [3] Police (Scotland) Act 1857 (20 & 21 Vict. c.72).

                  [4] Police (Scotland) Act 1857 (20 & 21 Vict. c.72.).

                  [5] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c.50).

                  [6] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 (19 & 20 Geo. V c.25) s.3.

                  [7] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. VI c.43) s.112.

                  [8] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c.65) s.146.

                  Police – Burgh Police Forces

                  The earliest form of policing in Scotland was the duty of watch and ward, carried out by burgesses in burghs from at least the 12th century. The work was mostly unpaid, part-time and temporary, with individuals serving as part of their civic duties.[1] By 1592 the Parliament attempted to extend these responsibilities to all inhabitants of burghs.[2] Several towns, notably Edinburgh, augmented this with an armed town guard in periods of crisis.

                  In the second half of the 18th century several burghs attempted to improve policing by obtaining local acts of parliament to empower forms of local taxation to pay for watching and other functions. In 1800, Glasgow was the first burgh to establish a police force on modern lines, with salaried constables accountable to the magistrates.[3] Several other burghs obtained local acts to establish police forces soon after 1800, and from 1833 a series of general police acts permitted any existing royal burgh to establish a police system with additional powers covering cleansing and other functions without the need for a local act of parliament.[4] The General Police (Scotland) Act, 1850 extended the power to become a police burgh to places with a population over 1200.[5] The General Police and Improvement (Scotland) Act, 1862 reduced the minimum population for the creation of a police burgh to 700.[6]

                  These burgh police forces were appointed and supervised by elected police commissioners which in some burghs were a separate local authority from the burgh council. In 1892 the Burgh Police (Scotland) Act ended the overlap and sometimes conflict that had existed between burgh councils and police commissioners in burghs by restricting powers to either one or the other. Only those burghs with 7000 or more inhabitants were allowed to keep their police forces, and new police forces were restricted to burghs with a population of over 20,000.[7] Police commissioners were abolished by the Town Councils (Scotland) Act, 1900 which replaced burgh councils, police commissioners and local authorities under the Public Health Acts with a single town council in each case.[8]

                  In 1929 the right to operate a police force was restricted to large burghs (with a population over 20,000) which already had an existing police force and new police forces only permitted in burghs with a population over 50,000: all other burghs were required to transfer any existing burgh police force and its assets to the county constabulary.[9] In 1947 all local authorities operating a police force were required to have a police committee.[10] In 1967 only twenty burghs continued to operate a police force.[11]

                  Burgh police forces ceased to exist as part of local government reorganisation in 1975, when town councils of burghs were abolished, police forces were reorganised on a regional basis, (subject to any amalgamations), and the regional and islands councils became the police authority for the police force in their area.[12]

                  Police Scotland is responsible for the surviving historical records of its predecessor police forces and has agreements with a number of local authority archives to hold many of these records which are no longer required for operational purposes (see police records locations for details).

                  Compilers: SCAN contributors (2000). Editors: Pam McNicol (Stirling Council Archives, 2021), Elspeth Reid (2021)

                  Related Knowledge Base entries

                  Policing and Police Forces

                  Police records locations

                  Police – County Constabularies

                  Police amalgamations and reorganisations

                  Police Authorities

                  Police records (introduction)

                  Police predecessors’ records

                  Police authority minutes

                  Police Chief Constable annual reports

                  Police Chief Constable letter books

                  Police correspondence files, case files & administrative files

                  Police instruction books & manuals

                  Police licensing and similar records

                  Police memoranda books

                  Police photographs

                  Police staff records or personnel records

                  Police station records

                  Bibliography

                  Barrie, David G., Police in the Age of Improvement: police development and the civic tradition in Scotland 1775-1865 (Willan, 2008)

                  Dinsmor, Alastair, and Robert H. J. Urquhart, ‘The Origins of Modern Policing in Scotland’ Scottish Archives, 7 (2001), pp. 36-44

                  Harrison, John G., ‘Policing the Stirling Area, 1660-1706’ Scottish Archives, 7 (2001), pp. 16-24

                  McGowan, John, ‘The Emergence of Modern Civil Police in Scotland: a case study of the police and systems of police in Edinburghshire 1800-1833’ (unpublished doctoral thesis, The Open University, 1997).

                  Stallion, Martin and David S. Wall, The British Police: Forces and Chief Officers 1829-2012 (Police History Society, 2011)

                  Stewart, Marion M., ‘A Policeman’s Lot: Police Records in Dumfries and Galloway, 1850-1950’ Scottish Archives, 7 (2001), pp. 25-35

                   

                  References

                  [1] David G. Barrie, Police in the Age of Improvement: police development and the civic tradition in Scotland 1775-1865 (Willan, 2008), pp.24-25.

                  [2] Regarding the taxation of burghs. The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707, ed. by K.M. Brown and others (University of St Andrews, 2007-2021), 1592/4/97 <http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/1592/4/97> [accessed 30 Nov 2021]

                  [3] Glasgow City Extension and Improvement Act 1800 (39 & 40 Geo. III c.lxxxviii).

                  [4] Burgh Police (Scotland) Act 1833 (3 & 4 Will. IV c.46).

                  [5] Police (Scotland) Act 1850 (13 & 14 Vict. c.33).

                  [6] General Police and Improvement (Scotland) Act 1862 (25 & 26 Vict. c. 101).

                  [7] Burgh Police (Scotland) Act 1892 (55 & 56 Vict. c. 55).

                  [8] Town Councils (Scotland) Act, 1900 (63 & 64 Vict. c. 49).

                  [9] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 (19 & 20 Geo. V c.25) s.3.

                  [10] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. VI c.43) s.112.

                  [11] Police (Scotland) Act 1967 (c.77).

                  [12] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c.65) s.146.