
A commissioner was a
legislator
A legislator, or lawmaker, is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people, but they can be appointed, or hereditary. Legislatures may be supra-nat ...
appointed or elected to represent a
royal burgh
A royal burgh ( ) was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished by law in 1975, the term is still used by many former royal burghs.
Most royal burghs were either created by ...
or
shire
Shire () is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries. It is generally synonymous with county (such as Cheshire and Worcestershire). British counties are among the oldes ...
in the
Parliament of Scotland
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
and the associated
Convention of the Estates.
Member of Parliament (MP) and
Deputy are equivalent terms in other countries.
The Scottish Parliament (also known as the Three Estates) and the Convention of the Estates were
unicameral legislature
Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...
s, so commissioners sat alongside
prelate
A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...
s (the first estate) and members of the
nobility
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...
(the second estate).
Burgh commissioners
Burgh commissioners were the third estate, and were the longest-established and most powerful group of commissioners to parliament. They first attended in 1326.
Burgh commissioners often acted and lobbied collectively, assisted by the fact that the
Convention of Royal Burghs often met in association with parliamentary sessions.
Shire commissioners
From the 16th century, the second estate of the nobility was reorganised by the selection of shire commissioners from the lower nobility: this has been argued to have created a fourth estate.
Each shire, stewartry or constabulary sent two shire commissioners to parliament, with the exception of the small shires of
Clackmannan and
Kinross
Kinross (, ) is a burgh in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, around south of Perth, Scotland, Perth and around northwest of Edinburgh. It is the traditional county town of the Counties of Scotland, historic county of Kinross-shire.
History
Kinro ...
which only sent one.
However, each shire had only one vote, meaning that the two commissioners had to cooperate and compromise with each other. They appear to have possessed ''
plena potestas'', and were not necessarily required to consult their electorates.
Early shire commissioners were
lesser barons, with the earliest recorded shire election being on 31 January 1596, in
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland.
It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...
.
The powers of the shire commissioners greatly expanded over time, especially with the long-term decline in power of the prelates. In 1640, the
Covenanters
Covenanters were members of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. It originated in disputes with James VI and his son ...
abolished the
episcopates, and each shire commissioner was given their own vote. This arrangement continued upon the
Restoration of the Episcopates in 1662.
See also
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Lord High Commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland
The Lord High Commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland was the List of Scottish monarchs, monarch of Scotland's high commissioner, personal representative to the Parliament of Scotland. From the accession of James I of England, James VI of Sc ...
, the monarch's personal commissioner to parliament, after the 1603
Union of the Crowns
The Union of the Crowns (; ) was the accession of James VI of Scotland to the throne of the Kingdom of England as James I and the practical unification of some functions (such as overseas diplomacy) of the two separate realms under a single ...
, when the Scottish monarch resided in England
*
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Member of the Scottish Parliament
Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; ; ) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament.
Electoral system
The additional member system produces a form of proportional representation, where ...
(member of the devolved legislature created in 1999)
Other similar terms:
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Member of Parliament
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Deputy (legislator)
A legislator, or lawmaker, is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people, but they can be appointed, or hereditary. Legislatures may be supra-nati ...
*
Member of Congress
A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...
References
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Parliamentary titles
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