The office of Director of Chancery (or Chancellory), the keeper of the Quarter Seal of Scotland, was formerly a senior position within the

legal system of Scotland Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

. The medieval post, latterly an office at General Register House, Edinburgh, was abolished by the Reorganisation of Offices (Scotland) Act 1928 and provision made for the functions to be transferred to the Keeper of the Registers and Records of Scotland, the Principal Extractor of the

Court of Session The Court of Session is the highest national court of Scotland in relation to Civil law (common law), civil cases. The court was established in 1532 to take on the judicial functions of the royal council. Its jurisdiction overlapped with othe ...

, the Sheriff Clerk of Chancery and the sheriff clerks of counties. The Scottish chancery was responsible for draughting, issuing and recording

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

s (e.g. charters of novodamus), patents of dignities (see

Letters patent Letters patent (plurale tantum, plural form for singular and plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, President (government title), president or other head of state, generally granti ...

), gifts of offices, remissions, legitimations, presentations, commissions, (brief warrants) and others crown

writ In common law, a writ is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrant (legal), Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, and ''certiorari'' are commo ...

s appointed to pass the

Great Seal A great seal is a seal used by a head of state, or someone authorised to do so on their behalf, to confirm formal documents, such as laws, treaties, appointments and letters of dispatch. It was and is used as a guarantee of the authenticity of ...

or the Quarter Seal of Scotland. The quarter seal of Scotland is now kept by the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland.

Office holders

* James Colville (died 1540), administrator, lord of session, and diplomat *

Thomas Bellenden of Auchnoule Thomas Bellenden or Bannatyne of Auchnoule (c. 1485 – c. 1547), courtier of James V of Scotland, Judge from 1535, Director of Chancery from 1538, Lord Justice Clerk from 1539, member of the royal council, ambassador to England, and Protestant sy ...

(c. 1485 – c. 1547), ambassador to England *

John Bellenden John Bellenden or Ballantyne ( 1533–1587?) of Moray (why Moray, a lowland family) was a Scottish writer of the 16th century. Life He was born towards the close of the 15th century, and educated at St. Andrews and Paris. At the request of ...

(c. 1510 – 1576), Lord Justice Clerk *

George Buchanan George Buchanan (; February 1506 – 28 September 1582) was a Scottish historian and humanist scholar. According to historian Keith Brown, Buchanan was "the most profound intellectual sixteenth-century Scotland produced." His ideology of re ...

(1506–1582), historian and humanist scholar * John Scot, Lord Scotstarvit (1585–1670), judge and satirist

References

Scots law Scottish legal professionals Political office-holders in Scotland 1928 disestablishments in Scotland 1928 in British law Archives in Scotland {{Scotland-law-stub

Office holders

See also

References