Heritors

After the Reformation it became accepted that the landowners in each parish in Scotland were responsible for the maintenance of the parish church and the minister and in that role these landowners were known as heritors.[1] Heritors were required to provide and maintain a parish church, a manse, a glebe and a stipend, the churchyard (burial ground) and the school. To defray all the expenses heritors were due, assessments were imposed on lands and heritages within the parish in proportion to their valued or real rent. Burghs were slightly different from landward areas, in that in a burghal church (a parish church wholly within a burgh) the magistrates were the heritors, as they represented the community. It may be stressed that heritors had no spiritual responsibilities for parishioners.

The heritors had a shared responsibility with the kirk session for the provision of poor relief, which in some cases the heritors dealt with by making voluntary contributions in preference to formal assessment. The intention of the Poor Law (Scotland) Act 1845 was that the newly established parochial boards would become responsible for poor relief.[2] In those rural parishes, at first a majority, where there was no compulsory assessment, the parochial board would consist of the heritors and kirk session. Gradually, however, assessment became more or less universal, and the role of the heritors in this area ceased to exist.

Schools were maintained or replaced by the heritors, and in addition they taxed themselves in proportion to their landholdings to pay the parochial schoolmaster’s salary.[3] The Education (Scotland) Act 1872 transferred the upkeep of schools and provision of education to the newly established school boards.[4]

The obligation on heritors to provide and maintain kirkyards (cemeteries) was not a statutory one, but one which they nevertheless accepted. The kirkyard belonged to the heritors, one of their number often having supplied the land required for it in the first instance. The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1894 permitted heritors to transfer the property of any kirkyard they held to parish councils, but heritors retained for the time being the power, duty and expense of extending kirkyards.[5]

The Church of Scotland (Property and Endowments) Act 1925, which was designed to prepare for the union of the Church of Scotland with the United Free Church of Scotland, effectively extinguished the powers and duties of heritors.[6] The Church itself would receive all ecclesiastical properties and endowments and have responsibility for their maintenance and control. Kirkyards were transferred to local authorities. The Act made it clear that once its stipulations had been effected there would no longer be need for heritors to record any further business.

Most surviving heritors’ records are held by the National Records of Scotland (reference code HR). Some heritors’ records are found amongst church records (reference code CH) and there are also related papers amongst the papers of some landed families who were heritors, held by NRS or by local archives services.

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

Related Knowledge Base entries

Heritors’ records

References

[1] Andrew Dewar Gibb A student’s glossary of Scottish legal terms (W Green & Son, 1946) p. 40.

[2] Poor Law (Scotland) Act 1845 (8 & 9 Vict c.83).

[3] Act for settling of schools, 1696 (Will II c.26 APS, x.63).

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

[5] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1894 (57 & 58 Vict c.58).

[6] Church of Scotland (Property and Endowments) Act 1925 (15 & 16 Geo. V c.33).

Friendly Societies

Friendly societies were originally organisations through which ordinary people, mainly tradesmen, were able to save money to cover the costs of burial, provide pensions for dependants and make provision for loss of earnings through sickness, infirmity or old age. Some were in existence in the 17th century but reached their peak in the 19th century. They were, and are, mutual benefit societies, owned by their members.

To begin with individual societies were often organised fairly informally, consisting of little more than a charity box, from which needy members of a society could be given a handout, at the discretion of the membership or officials of the society. In the late 18th century, many societies became better organised and they were encouraged by the Registration of Friendly Societies Act 1793.[1] Many societies folded in the 1820s when rising unemployment and increasing age of the membership put severe pressure on funds, which had stagnated because of under-subscription or unchanging subscription levels in periods of monetary inflation. The more fortunate societies survived the recession. The Friendly Societies Act 1855 established the Registrar of Friendly Societies.[2]

Some friendly societies also acted as social clubs. Organisations with similar aims included the Free Gardeners, Oddfellows and Loyal Order of Ancient Shepherds and these established local branches in many areas of Scotland. Some friendly societies were set up to benefit particular groups or occupations, such as the Scotch Episcopal Friendly Society, the Friendly Society of Dissenting Ministers in Scotland, or the Caledonian Railway Servants Friendly Society. Other mutual benefit societies were limited to local areas, such as the United Sea Box of Borrowstounness, the Strathearn Highland Friendly Society, the Friendly Society of Carrick Farmers or the Master Bakers’ Friendly Society of Glasgow.

Records of Scottish Friendly Societies are held by a wide variety of business, university, local and national archives as well as by the Friendly Societies themselves.

Related Knowledge Base entries

Money and Banking

Bibliography

Cordery, Simon British Friendly Societies, 1750-1914 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003)

Fraser, W. Hamish, Conflict and Class: Scottish Workers 1700-1838 (John Donald, 1988)

MacDougall, Ian, ed., A Catalogue of Some Labour Records in Scotland (Scottish Labour History Society, 1978)

References

[1] Registration of Friendly Societies Act 1793 (33 Geo. III, c.54).

[2] Friendly Societies Act 1855 (18 & 19 Vict., c.63).

All
Friendly Societies

How do I cash in an old funeral policy from a friendly society which has been wound up?

The Financial Conduct Authority (formerly the Financial Services Authority) took over the functions of the Central Office of the former Registry of Friendly Societies and those of the Assistant Registrar for Scotland in December 2001. This function is now known as Mutual Societies Registration, and includes registering industrial and provident societies, building societies, friendly societies and certain other mutual societies. The Mutual Societies Registration unit of the Authorisation Division of the FSA is now responsible for these functions, and can be contacted at <https://www.fca.org.uk/> [accessed 26 April 2024].

How do I trace the records of a Scottish friendly society?

The records of Scottish friendly societies are held by a wide variety of business, university, local and national archives and other bodies. It is best to start your search with the main websites that link to a range of archives such as Your Scottish Archives or The National Archives <https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/> or the Archives Hub <https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/ > [both accessed 26 April 2024 If the Friendly Society still exists then they may have their own archives. You can also consult Ian MacDougall, ed., A Catalogue of Some Labour Records in Scotland (Edinburgh: Scottish Labour History Society, 1978) and find many friendly society regulations and publications mentioned in the catalogue of the National Library of Scotland.

Rules and regulations for friendly societies and similar bodies (such as building societies, industrial and provident societies, and some trades unions) dissolved before 1929 are held by the National Records of Scotland. They are listed under the reference FS. This is subdivided into:

FS1 – Friendly Societies, 1st series (early friendly society rules and regulations lodged under the Friendly Society Acts, 1829 to 1852, deposited alphabetically under counties and towns).
FS2 – Building Societies, 1st series (rules lodged under the Benefit Building Societies Act, 1836, deposited and arranged as FS1).
FS3 – Friendly Societies, 2nd series (as FS1).
FS4 – Friendly Societies, 3rd series (rules of societies removed from the register before 1920).
FS5 – Industrial and Provident Societies, 1st series (rules of societies removed from the register before 1920).
FS6 – Building Societies, 2nd series (rules of societies removed from the register before 1920).
FS7 – Trades Unions, 1st series (rules of societies removed from the register before 1920).
FS8 – Obsolete registers (names of societies and unions registered offices, and dates of certificates of registration – the information was transferred to register cards in 1922.
FS9 – Friendly Societies collected rules (bound volumes containing copies of rules and regulations of friendly societies).
FS11 – Building Societies, 3rd series (rules of societies removed from the register between 1920 and 1929).
FS12 – Industrial and Provident Societies, 2nd series (rules of societies removed from the register between 1920 and 1929).

Freeholders

Before 1832 members of parliament for counties were elected solely by freeholders, whose qualification was the tenure of land to the value of 40 shillings of Old Extent or properties or superiorities with a valued rent of £400 Scots. The County Franchise Act 1681 required a roll of freeholders to be made up and revised annually.[1] There were anomalies in Sutherland and these were recognised in an Act of 1743 which gave the vote to freeholders holding land valued at £200 Scots.[2] The Representation of the People Act 1832 altered the franchise and prevented the creation of new freeholders but preserved the voting rights of existing freeholders for their lifetimes.[3]

The records of freeholders’ meetings are generally found among sheriff court records, held by the National Records of Scotland, but some freeholders’ material can be found among county council records held by local authority archives or libraries.

Editors: David Brown (National Records of Scotland, 2021) & Elspeth Reid (2021)

Bibliography

Ferguson, William, ‘The Electoral System in the Scottish Counties before 1832’ in Miscellany Two ed. by David Sellar (Stair Society, 1984), pp. 261-94.

Adam, Sir Charles Elphinstone, View of the Political State of Scotland in the Last Century (Edinburgh, 1887)

References

[1] Act concerning the election of commissioners for shires, 1681. The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707, ed. by K.M. Brown and others (University of St Andrews, 2007-2021), 1681/7/45 <http://rps.ac.uk/trans/1681/7/45> [accessed 19 May 2021].

[2] Act 1743 (16 Geo. II c.11) effective from 1745.

[3] Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1832 (2 & 3 Will. IV c.65).

Education Authorities

Elected education authorities were established in every county and five named burghs under the Education (Scotland) Act 1918.[1] With the exception of the five burghs of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee and Leith, all burghs were included in the education areas covered by these new county wide education authorities. Leith and Edinburgh amalgamated in 1920.

The new education authorities were required to submit schemes for school management committees to the Scottish Education Department and then appoint these committees. The education authorities were required to develop schemes for adequate provision of education in their education area and set salary scales of teachers. They were also given powers to make arrangements for nursery schools, to contribute to recognised schools which they did not manage, to pay for pupils educated in another education area, and to prepare schemes for continuation classes, which could be delegated to the school management committees. They were also required to accept the transfer of voluntary schools, which in 1918 were mainly Roman Catholic schools.

The functions of the education authority were transferred to county councils and to the four counties of cities (Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow) under the terms of the Local Authority (Scotland) Act, 1929.[2] The county councils and town councils of counties of cities were required to appoint education committees and this meant that separately elected education authorities therefore ceased to exist.

Records of education authorities are held by local authority archives services.

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

Related Knowledge Base entries

School Boards

School Management Committees

Education records

Education

County Councils

References

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

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

Mental health authorities

This entry in the Knowledge Base refers to local authorities and central authorities by the name they were given in the relevant legislation at the time. This terminology is now obsolete and its use in this entry is limited to formal names.

District lunacy boards were established in 1858 as local authorities comprising representatives of the commissioners of supply and magistrates of burghs within the district.[1] They were supervised by a General Board of Commissioners in Lunacy for Scotland. The function of the district boards was to provide asylums for the reception and care of people with mental health issues who had no means to support themselves. From 1862 this was extended to include voluntary patients and children with congenital disabilities.[2] In 1914 the District lunacy boards were re-named district boards of control and the General Board of Commissioners was re-named the General Board of Control for Scotland.[3] District boards of control were then required to provide accommodation or contribute to the cost of accommodation of people with congenital learning disabilities or other disabilities as well as people with mental health issues. District boards of control were abolished in 1930 and responsibility for the provision of mental health services at a local level was transferred to the county councils and the four counties of cities.[4]

With the establishment of the National Health Service in 1948 local authority responsibility for the provision of hospitals and local mental health services was transferred to the National Health Service.[5] However it was not until 1960 that the Lunacy (Scotland) Acts 1857-1913 and the Mental Deficiency (Scotland) Acts 1913 and 1940 were finally repealed.[6]

Records of the district boards are mainly held by health services archives. The minutes of the General Board of Commissioners are held by National Records of Scotland (reference code MC).

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

Related Knowledge Base entries

Mental health

Hospitals before the NHS

Hospitals and local health provision under the NHS

Bibliography

Andrews, Jonathan, They’re in the trade…of lunacy, they cannot interfere – they say’: the Scottish Lunacy Commissioners and lunacy reform in nineteenth-century Scotland. (Wellcome Trust, 1998)

Hunter, T. Drummond, ‘Mental health and mental handicap: a new look at patterns in care’ in Improving the Common Weal: Aspects of Scottish health services 1900-1984 ed. by Gordon McLachlan (Edinburgh University Press for the Nuffield Provincial Hospitals Trust, 1987) pp.325-65

Stone, J.A.W., ‘Lunacy’ in Source book and history of administrative law in Scotland ed. by M. R. McLarty (Hodge, 1956), pp. 161-76

References

[1] Lunacy (Scotland) Act 1857 (20 & 21 Vict. c.71).

[2] Lunacy (Scotland) Act 1862 (25 & 26 Vict. c.54).

[3] Mental Deficiency and Lunacy (Scotland) Act 1913 (3 & 4 Geo. V c.38).

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

[5] National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1847 (10 & 11 Geo. VI c.27).

[6] Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1960 (c.61).

District Courts

District courts were established by the District Courts (Scotland) Act 1975 to replace police courts, burgh courts, justice of the peace courts, quarter sessions and the court of the bailie of the river and firth of Clyde.[1] The district courts were based on district council and islands council areas and funded and administered by these local authorities. The councils were responsible for appointing a district prosecutor as well as the clerk of the district court who had to be a solicitor or advocate and who acted as the legal assessor to the court. The councils also had to provide premises for the district court.

District court sittings were presided over by the justices of the peace or a stipendiary magistrate. The JPs also formed a justices committee to advise the council on the administration of the district court and deal with training and rotas. The council was required to appoint a clerk of the peace to advise and assist the JPs, arrange meetings and keep records.

District courts dealt with minor offences such as breach of the peace, minor assault, petty theft and minor motoring offences. Their sentencing powers were limited to fines or imprisonment for up to sixty days.[2]

In 2008 the district courts were abolished and replaced by new Justice of the Peace courts administered centrally by the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service.[3]

Compiler: Elspeth Reid (2021)

Related Knowledge Base entries

Court records

Burgh courts

References

[1] District Courts (Scotland) Act 1975 (c.20).

[2] Summary Jurisdiction (Scotland) Act 1954 (c.48).

[3] Criminal Proceedings etc. (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007 (asp. 6).

District Councils (1975-1996)

District councils had the same name but were quite distinct from previous district councils which existed from 1930 to 1975. The new district councils were set up by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.[1] This act established a two-tier system of local government with nine regional councils and 53 district councils. Three islands councils (Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles) performed the functions of both district and regional councils. District councils were elected in 1974 and acted as shadow authorities until May 1975, when they assumed their full powers.

Their main responsibilities were the administration of district courts (under the District Courts (Scotland) Act 1975), burial and cremation, cleansing, conservation areas, countryside (some regional responsibility), development control, environmental health, housing, leisure and recreation, licensing, local planning, museums and art galleries (with the regional council), parks and tourism. Responsibilities for building control and libraries were also given to district councils except in Borders, Highland and Dumfries and Galloway where responsibility lay with the regional councils. Like regional councils, they also had responsibilities for making proper arrangements for their records. In 1982 various shared functions were removed from regional councils and allocated to islands and district councils only, including: responsibilities for various planning functions in relation to the countryside, local authority involvement in tourism, food and drugs enforcement, commercial caravan sites, entertainment, public conveniences, street cleansing, markets, public clocks, roadside seats and war memorials. At the same time, district councils ceased to have any responsibilities for rural bus services and their role in planning became more limited.[2]

District and regional councils were abolished in 1996 and replaced by single tier councils.[3]

Records of district councils are held by local authority archives services.

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

Related Knowledge Base entries

Regional Councils

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).

District Councils (1930-1975)

District councils were formed under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929, which abolished parish councils and the previous system of district committees within counties.[1] This transferred the functions and powers of the abolished parish councils to district councils and permitted county councils to delegate additional responsibilities to district councils under a scheme of delegation. These might include the letting of houses, the upkeep of cemeteries and local parks, maintenance of war memorials, and, until 1948, the poor law. District councils also administered special districts or committees responsible for certain functions such as scavenging or water supply, financed by additional rates.

County councils (apart from Kinross and Nairn) were required to submit a scheme for setting up district councils to the Secretary of State for Scotland by February 1930. District councils were composed partly of directly elected district councillors and partly of the county councillors from electoral divisions within the district.[2]

These district councils were abolished in 1975 and many of their functions were transferred to new district councils, which shared the same name but had different powers and wider responsibilities.[3]

Surviving records of these district councils are usually found with the records of county councils in local authority archives services.

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

Related Knowledge Base entries

County Councils

References

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

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

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

District Committees (1889-1930)

District committees were formed under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889. [1] The county was to be divided into districts for managing and maintaining roads and for public health administration. The district committees were composed of county councillors from the electoral divisions in the district together with one representative from each parochial board (later parish council) in the district and one from each burgh in the district.[2] Their procedures were subject to county council general regulations, and they could not raise their own rates. They were abolished by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929.[3]

Surviving records of District Committees are usually found with the records of County Councils in local authority archives services.

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

Related Knowledge Base entries

County Councils

References

[1] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c.50) ss.16-17.

[2] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c.50) s.78.

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

Dean of Guild Courts

Dean of guild courts were first established as a way to resolve disputes between members of merchant guilds, originally only in Scottish medieval royal burghs. They gradually became the bodies responsible for building control (later called building standards) within all burghs, until abolished in 1975.

In 1469 the dean of guild was given statutory recognition as one of the ordinary royal burgh magistrates.[1] The development of dean of guild courts was individual to each burgh. In general, the dean of guild held a court to hear pleas between merchants including trade, commerce, the regulation of weights and measures and property boundaries. It also had the function of enforcing the mercantile privileges of the burgh.

The Edinburgh Dean of Guild Court also heard offences against “nychtburheid” which was essentially disputes among neighbours. From 1593 other dean of guild courts started to include this jurisdiction.[2] In time, this came to be interpreted in terms of physical encroachment by one neighbour upon another – perhaps by building an extension which intruded into a neighbour’s property or by allowing the collapse of a ruinous wall into a neighbour’s yard or by blocking up the entry to a neighbour’s close with a midden.[3]

In the 17^th century the practice arose of pre-empting such disputes by requiring anyone who wished to erect a building or carry out major alterations to it to secure the permission of the dean of guild court before doing so. By the mid-17th century, the Edinburgh Dean of Guild Court began to insist the submission of a plan for approval before building.

The ordinary civil jurisdiction of guild courts died out by the end of the 18^th century, and the trading privileges of the burgesses had long been in decline when they were finally abolished in 1846. The right to hear offences against neighbourliness continued, however, and evolved into building control powers.[4] The area of their jurisdiction might be limited – for example, the Dundee Dean of Guild Court only covered the ancient royalty boundary.

Until the 19^th century only royal burghs with existing dean of guild courts developed these building control powers. In the 19^th century individual burghs started to obtain local acts of parliament for police powers and from 1833 burghs could choose adopt the general police acts which included provisions for the burgh commissioners to ensure that ruinous buildings were demolished and that buildings being repaired were fenced off.[5] From 1862 magistrates of towns which adopted the General Police and Improvement (Scotland) Act 1862 were given the same powers as dean of guild courts.[6] The adoption of police powers including dean of guild court powers was an individual decision for each burgh and some chose to obtain local acts of parliament in preference to adopting the general acts. However, from 1892 all town councils were permitted to set up dean of guild courts[7]. In 1947 burghs were required to set up a dean of guild court if they did not already have one.[8]

The Building (Scotland) Act 1959 was the first comprehensive legislation to deal with building control and under this the dean of guild courts became building authorities.[9] The name dean of guild court remained in use until the functions of building authorities were transferred to district councils and island councils under the Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1973 when the term building control was adopted.[10]

Surviving records, including building warrant plans and petitions are usually found in local authority archives services. National Records of Scotland holds a few minute books of the dean of guild courts of the burghs of Banff (B9), Dunfermline (B20), Inverkeithing (B34), Linlithgow (B48) and Peebles (B58).

Compiler: Elspeth Reid (2021)

Related Knowledge Base entries

Building standards

Building standards records

Bibliography

Close, Rob, ‘Planning and Building Records’ Scottish Local History, 39 (1997) pp. 16-20

Gray, Iain, ‘Dean of Guild Court Records: a unique resource for Scottish Urban History’ Scottish Archives, 5 (1999) pp. 41-48

Gray, Iain, A Guide to Dean of Guild Records (Scottish Survey of Architectural Practices, 1994) [note that the locations listed in this Guide are out of date but it contains a useful history]

Irons, James Campbell, Manual of the Law and Practice of the Dean of Guild Court (Green, 1895)

Jackson, Andrew M., Glasgow Dean of Guild Court: A History (Glasgow, 1983)

McKechnie, John, ‘Buildings and Dean of Guild’ in Source book and history of administrative law in Scotland ed. by M.R. McLarty (Hodge, 1956) pp. 95-104

Smith, Annette M., The Guildry of Dundee (Abertay Historical Society, 2005)

Warden, A. J., Burgh Laws of Dundee (Longmans, Green & Co, 1872)

References

[1] Officers of burghs, 1469. The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707, [RPS] ed. by K.M. Brown and others (University of St Andrews, 2007-2021), 1468/19 <http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/1469/19> [accessed 16 December 2018].

[2] Andrew M. Jackson Glasgow Dean of Guild Court: A History (Glasgow,1983) p.12.

[3] Act anent the reparation of ruinous houses within burghs, 1644. RPS 1644/6/265 <http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/1644/6/265> [accessed 16 December 2018].

[4] Iain Gray A Guide to Dean of Guild Court Records (Scottish Survey of Architectural Practices, 1994), pp.3-4

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

[6]General Police and Improvement (Scotland) Act 1862 (25 & 26 Vict. c.101) s.408.

[7] Burgh Police (Scotland) Act 1892 (55 & 56 Vict. c.55) s.201-209.

[8] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. VI c.43) s.321-331.

[9] Building (Scotland) Act 1959 (c.24) s.1(2).

[10] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c.65) s.227.