Editing Ross and Cromarty (section)

===County===
[[File:Dingwall Sherrif Court (geograph 2996545).jpg|thumb|[[Dingwall Sheriff Court]]]]
The county of Ross and Cromarty was created under the [[Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889]], covering the combined area of the two former counties of Ross-shire and Cromartyshire. The new county came into being on the passing of the act on 26 August 1889, from when the previously separate commissioners of supply for each former county merged into a single body, and the last [[Lord Lieutenant of Ross-shire]], [[Sir Kenneth Mackenzie, 6th Baronet|Kenneth Smith Mackenzie]], became the first [[Lord Lieutenant of Ross and Cromarty]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c. 50) Section 39 |date=1889 |page=228 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-D0wAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA228 |access-date=10 September 2024}}</ref>

The act also established elected county councils, which came into effect in 1890, taking over most of the functions of the commissioners (which were eventually abolished in 1930). The new Ross and Cromarty County Council held its first official meeting on 8 May 1890 at [[Dingwall Sheriff Court]], which had been built in the 1840s as the main courthouse for Ross-shire and had also served as the meeting place for the commissioners. Kenneth Smith Mackenzie, already the lord lieutenant and a major landowner in the county, was also appointed the first [[convener]] of the county council.<ref>{{Historic Environment Scotland|num= LB24500|desc= Dingwall Sheriff Court including former police station, prison, gatepiers and railings, Ferry Road, Dingwall |access-date=10 September 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=First meeting of Ross-shire County Council - yesterday |url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/search-newspapers |access-date=10 September 2024 |work=Ross-shire Journal |date=9 May 1890 |location=Dingwall |page=3}}</ref>

[[File:Highland Council Offices (geograph 3388848).jpg|thumb|left|[[County Buildings, Dingwall]], built 1965 as headquarters of Ross and Cromarty County Council]]
The act also led to a review of boundaries, with [[exclave]]s being transferred to a county they actually bordered, and parish and county boundaries being adjusted to eliminate cases where parishes straddled county boundaries. The main exclaves in the area prior to the act had been the many parts of Cromartyshire scattered across Ross-shire, which were resolved as a result of the two counties merging into one. After the merger, there still remained an exclave of [[Nairnshire]] at the [[Ferintosh, Black Isle|Ferintosh]] estate on the [[Black Isle]], whilst the parish of [[Urray]] straddled [[Inverness-shire]] and Ross and Cromarty. Ferintosh was transferred to Ross and Cromarty, and the parts of Urray in Inverness-shire were transferred to the Inverness-shire parish of [[Kilmorack]]. These boundary changes (and others to eliminate exclaves in parish boundaries) took effect in 1891.<ref name=Hay>{{cite book |last1=Shennan |first1=Hay |title=Boundaries of counties and parishes in Scotland as settled by the Boundary Commissioners under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 |date=1892 |publisher=W. Green |location=Edinburgh |page=132 |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_meygAAAAMAAJ/page/n169/mode/2up |access-date=10 September 2024}}</ref>

Despite the creation of Ross and Cromarty in 1889, the [[Royal Mail]] used 'Ross-shire' as the name of the [[postal county]] for the mainland part of Ross and Cromarty, including the parts which had been in Cromartyshire.<ref>{{cite book |title=Post Office Guide |date=1911 |page=245 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n8ZAAQAAMAAJ&dq=cromarty&pg=RA1-PA245 |access-date=14 September 2024 |last1=Post Office |first1=Great Britain }}</ref> Postal counties were officially discontinued in 1996.

Although the county was officially called Ross and Cromarty, the names 'Ross County Council' and 'Ross-shire County Council' were both also used for its county council in the media.<ref>{{cite book |title=Municipal Law Reports |date=1905 |page=173 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y3EoAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Ross%20County%20Council%22 |access-date=15 September 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Surveyor and Municipal and County Engineer |date=1950 |page=571 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cZlVAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Ross-shire%20County%20Council%22 |access-date=15 September 2024}}</ref> Ross and Cromarty County Council built itself a new headquarters at [[County Buildings, Dingwall|County Buildings]] in Dingwall in 1965.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ross-shirejournal.co.uk/news/public-urged-to-attend-dingwall-meeting-165145/  |title=Public urged to attend Dingwall meeting|date=28 October 2014|newspaper=Ross-shire Journal|access-date=19 July 2021}}</ref>