Lieutenancy and Militia
The main function of lieutenancies was to defend the country in the event of an emergency and until the late 18th century lord lieutenants were only appointed by the Crown as and when the need arose. Permanent lieutenancies were established in 1794 by a royal warrant, which ordered the development of volunteer forces for the defence of Scotland.[1] Each was led by a lord lieutenant who was appointed by the monarch. The lord lieutenant in turn appointed deputies. The duties of lieutenants included provision for the protection of their counties in the event of invasion, threat or civil uprising. They initially directed volunteer forces and from 1797 were empowered to raise militia forces.[2] Militiamen were to be selected by ballot. Aliment was paid to the dependants of a serving militiaman by the parish or burgh authorities. Militia service was unpopular and the ballot system led to the formation of societies to raise subscriptions to help those chosen in the militia ballot (‘principals’), to pay for substitutes to serve in their places. The militia often found recruitment difficult as the number of those willing to serve as substitutes was limited, and a militiaman was often required to serve with his unit in a different part of the country from his place of residence. Subsequent Militia Acts did not improve matters greatly. The militia became almost moribund after 1815. The Militia (Scotland) Act 1854 revived the militia but with volunteers rather than recruits and the force was administered largely by central government thereafter.[3]
After 1802 militia officers’ qualifications were tightened and only a landholder who held or was heir to property rated at £400 Scots in the county land tax books was eligible to serve as a captain in the lieutenancy.[4] In later years the lord lieutenant was given additional roles in local government. He was ex officio a member of the police committee for the county constabulary after 1857.[5] He was also a member of the local authority under the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Acts from 1866.[6] When county councils were established, the lieutenant for the county was ex officio a county councillor at the first election, holding office until 1892 but thereafter all councillors had to be elected.[7] The role of lieutenancies gradually became largely ceremonial, but they continued to recommend justices of the peace with the help of an advisory committee.
Following local government reorganisation in 1975, 33 lord lieutenants were retained with their 33 lieutenancy areas using the old county boundaries with some minor adjustments to align with some of the new districts and regions.[8] The role was continued by the Reserve Forces Act 1980 and in 1996 there was a further re-adjustment of some boundaries.[9] The Lieutenancies Act 1997 consolidated previous legislation and enabled changes in lieutenancy areas as the Sovereign saw fit.[10] The first female lord lieutenant in Scotland was appointed in 1998.[11]
Lieutenancy and militia records for any particular county may survive in one or more of several places. Some may be found with the records of county councils and their predecessors usually with local authority archives. Others, particularly militia records, may be among sheriff court records at the National Records of Scotland, or among the estate or family papers of landowners who were lord lieutenants.
Editor: Elspeth Reid (2021)
Bibliography
Fortescue, The Hon. J. W., The County Lieutenancies and the Army 1803-1814 (London: 1909)
Whetstone, Ann E., Scottish County Government in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (John Donald, 1981)
References
[1] Ann E. Whetstone, Scottish County Government in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (John Donald, 1981) p.97; The Later Correspondence of George III Vol. II, 1793-1797 ed. by A. Aspinall (Cambridge University Press, 1968), p.183, letter of Henry Dundas to the King, 6 March 1794 and reply, same day.
[2] Militia Act, 1797 (37 Geo. III c.103).
[3] Militia (Scotland) Act 1854 (17 & 18 Vict. c.106).
[4] Militia (Scotland) Act 1802 (42 Geo. III c.91).
[5] Police (Scotland) Act 1857 (20 & 21 Vict. c.72).
[6] Cattle Diseases Prevention Act 1866 (29 & 30 Vict. c.2) s.5.
[7] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c.50) s.109.
[8] Lord Lieutenants Order 1975 (SI 1975 No. 428).
[9] Reserve Forces Act 1980 (c.9) s.131; The Lord-Lieutenants (Scotland) Order 1996 (SI 1996 No. 381 S83).
[10] Lieutenancies Act 1997 (c.23).
[11] Elizabeth Ewen, The new biographical dictionary of Scottish women (Edinburgh University Press [2018]).