Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland

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Keeper of the
Great Seal of Scotland
Neach-gleidhidh Seula Mòr na h-Alba (Scottish Gaelic)
Royal Coat of Arms used by the Monarch in Scotland

Flag of Scotland

Royal Banner of Scotland
Incumbent
Humza Yousaf MSP
since 29 March 2023
Scottish Government
Crown Estate Scotland
Registers of Scotland
StatusGreat Officer of the Crown in Scotland
Member ofPrivy Council
Scottish Government
Scottish Cabinet
ResidenceBute House, Edinburgh, Scotland
AppointerThe Monarch
Term lengthWhilst serving as First Minister
Formation1389
First holderSir Alexander de Cockburn
(1389–1396)
Unofficial namesKeeper of the Seal of Scotland
Keeper of the Scottish Seal
DeputyJennifer Henderson,
Keeper of the Registers of Scotland
WebsiteRegisters of the Great Seal

The Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Neach-gleidhidh Seula Mòr na h-Alba) is the keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland, and one of the officers of the crown in Scotland. The Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland is the incumbent First Minister of Scotland, currently Humza Yousaf, since March 2023.

Under the terms of a Royal Warrant of 1818,[1] the Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland, the Lord Clerk Register, the Lord Advocate, and the Lord Justice Clerk are ex-officio Commissioners for the Keeping of the Regalia.[2] Since 1996, the commissioners have also been empowered by another Royal Warrant for the safekeeping of the Stone of Scone and for the arrangement of its return to Westminster Abbey for the next British coronation.[3]

The post was formerly known as Keeper of the Seal of the Kingdom of Scotland. The Keeper of the Registers of Scotland is the Deputy Keeper of the Great Seal, and ultimately responsible for its use. The Register of the Great Seal is the oldest national record in Scotland.[4]

History[edit]

The Chancellor of Scotland had the custody of the King's Seal.[5] The first recorded office holder was Sir Alexander de Cockburn in 1389. The Act of Union passed in 1707 to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain, resulting in both the Kingdom of Scotland and Kingdom of England relinquishing their independence, abolished the Great Seal of Scotland. Following this, a different seal was created in order to be used in relation to documents that had, up until the 1707 Act of Union, usually passed the Great Seal. The replacement seal is commonly referred to as the Great Seal, or the Scottish Seal, today.[4]

The continuation of a seal was one of the guaranteed elements in the Treaty of Union. The guarantee set out in the Act of Union provided that “a Seal in Scotland after the Union be always kept and made use of in all things relating to private Rights or Grants which have usually passed the Great Seal of Scotland, and which only concern Offices, Grants, Commissions, and private Rights within that Kingdom". The Scotland Act 1998 references the current seal of Scotland as “the seal appointed by the Treaty of Union to be kept and made use of in place of the Great Seal of Scotland".[6]

The first Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland post Treaty of Union in 1707 was Hugh Campbell, 3rd Earl of Loudoun (1708–1713). Until the re-establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, the Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland was usually the Secretary of State for Scotland until the responsibility passed to the First Minister of Scotland.

In April 2023, First Minister Humza Yousaf, in his capacity as the Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland, oversaw the departure of the Stone of Scone, an ancient symbol of Scotland's nationhood, for Westminster Abbey for usage in the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla on 6 May.[7]

Functions[edit]

The Great Seal of Scotland is applied to documents as authorised by the Monarch. The Great Seal of Scotland is used to cast a wax seal, which is applied to official documents and acts of law as part of their authentication and approval by the Monarch. The Great Seal of Scotland features the reigning monarch on one side, while the other side shows the Royal Arms as used by the Monarch in Scotland.

Within the Treason Act 1708, Section 12 makes it an act of treason in Scotland to counterfeit the seal.[6]

The Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland has an overview and responsibility of the following operations and departments in Scotland:

Office holders[edit]

Great Seal of the Kingdom of Scotland[edit]

Great Seal of Scotland[edit]

The following are keepers of the Great Seal who served as secretaries for Scotland (1885–1926).

The Great Seal of Scotland during the Premiership of Nicola Sturgeon

The following are keepers of the Great Seal who served as secretaries of state for Scotland (1926–1999).

The office of the Keeper of the Great Seal was transferred on 6 May 1999, to the First Minister, in accordance with the terms of section 45(7) of the Scotland Act 1998.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Scottish Regalia". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 1. United Kingdom: House of Commons. 26 March 1981. col. 395W.
  2. ^ "Stone of Destiny to stay in Edinburgh Castle". The Herald. 14 December 2006. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  3. ^ "20 lesser known facts about the Stone of Destiny". Edinburgh Castle. 30 November 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Register of the Great Seal". ros.gov.uk. Registers of Scotland. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  5. ^ See list for years AD1057-1794, pp. 78–82 in "A political index to the histories of Great Britain and Ireland" by Robert Beatson: https://archive.org/stream/apoliticalindex02beatgoog#page/n88/mode/2up
  6. ^ a b "First minister election: What is the Scottish Seal?". Thenational.scot. The National. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  7. ^ https://news.stv.tv/scotland/humza-yousaf-ill-make-sure-stone-of-destiny-comes-back-to-scotland-after-it-leaves-for-kings-coronation
  8. ^ Article on the Cockburn family, retrieved 17 April 2012
  9. ^ "Records of the Parliaments of Scotland". www.rps.ac.uk.
  10. ^ (Chalmers, George, 1742-1825. The Life of Mary, Queen of Scots: Drawn From the State Papers, With Subsidiary Memoirs. 2d ed., corr. and enl. London: J. Murray, 1822: Voir volume 3, p.153).
  11. ^ "Sir Richard Maitland, Lord Lethington - Scottish poet".
  12. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Spottiswoode, John" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  13. ^ a b Barker, George Fisher Russell (1886). "Campbell, John (1598-1663)" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 8. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 365.
  14. ^ "No. 16018". The London Gazette. 11 April 1807. p. 450.