Editing Caithness (section)

===Shire and county===
In terms of shires (areas where justice was administered by a [[Sheriff principal|sheriff]]), the north of mainland Scotland was all included in the [[Inverness-shire|shire of Inverness]] from the 12th century.<ref name=Grant/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Taylor |first1=Alice |title=The Shape of the State in Medieval Scotland, 1124–1290 |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=9780198749202 |pages=144, 234–235 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2XvnCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA144 |access-date=30 August 2024}}</ref> In 1455 the Earl of Caithness gained a grant of the [[justiciar|justiciary]] of the area, giving Caithness partial independence from the [[Sheriff of Inverness]].<ref name=Campbell>{{cite book |last1=Campbell |first1=H. F. |title=Caithness and Sutherland |date=1920 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |pages=1–2 |isbn=978-1-107-69280-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MZfrtfS7gJIC&pg=PA1 |access-date=30 September 2024}}</ref>

An act of parliament in 1504 acknowledged that the shire of Inverness was too big for the effective administration of justice, and so declared [[Ross, Scotland|Ross]] and Caithness to be separate shires. The boundary used for the shire of Caithness created in 1504 was the diocese of Caithness, which included Sutherland. The [[Sheriff of Caithness]] was directed to hold courts at either [[Dornoch]] or Wick.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brown |first1=Keith |title=Legislation: final legislation published outwith the parliamentary register, Edinburgh, 11 March 1504 |website=The Records of the Parliament of Scotland to 1707 |url=http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/A1504/3/105 |publisher=University of St Andrews |access-date=30 August 2024}}</ref> That act was set aside for most purposes in 1509, and Caithness once more came under the sheriff of Inverness.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brown |first1=Keith |title=Legislation, 8 May 1509 |website=The Records of the Parliament of Scotland to 1707 |url=http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/A1509/5/3 |publisher=University of St Andrews |access-date=23 September 2024}}</ref> The sheriff of Inverness was then directed to appoint a number of deputies, including one based in Wick.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mackintosh |first1=John |title=Historic Earls and Earldoms of Scotland |date=1898 |publisher=W. Jolly & Sons |location=Aberdeen |page=130 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3_8OAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA130 |access-date=30 September 2024}}</ref> In 1584, [[George Sinclair, 5th Earl of Caithness]], forfeited the justiciary of the area after a dispute with [[George Gordon, 1st Marquess of Huntly|George Gordon, Earl of Huntly]], who was sheriff of Inverness at the time.<ref>{{cite book |title=Dictionary of National Biography: Volume 52 |date=1897 |pages=292–293 |publisher=Smith, Elder, & Company |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GbkcAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA293 |access-date=26 September 2024}}</ref>

Caithness was restored to being a shire in 1641.<ref name=Campbell/> The shire of Caithness created in 1641 just covered the earldom of Caithness; Sutherland had been made its own shire in 1633.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brown |first1=Keith |title=Act in favour of John Gordon, Earl of Sutherland, 28 June 1633 |website=The Records of the Parliament of Scotland to 1707 |url=http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/1633/6/74 |publisher=University of St Andrews |access-date=23 September 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Chamberlayne |first1=John |title=Magnae Britanniae Notita: or, the Present State of Great Britain |date=1748 |location=London |page=314 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7re2keiml2YC&pg=PA314 |access-date=23 September 2024}}</ref> Wick was declared to be the head [[burgh]] of the shire, and the Earl of Caithness became the hereditary sheriff.<ref name=Campbell/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Brown |first1=Keith |title=Ratification in favour of the town of Wick of their infeftment, with a declaration declaring the said town to be the head burgh of the sheriffdom of Caithness, 17 November 1641 |website=The Records of the Parliament of Scotland to 1707 |url=http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/1641/8/425 |publisher=University of St Andrews |access-date=1 October 2024}}</ref>

Over time, Scotland's shires became more significant than the old provinces, with more administrative functions being given to the sheriffs. In 1667 [[Commissioners of Supply]] were established for each shire, which would serve as the main administrative body for the area until the creation of county councils in 1890. Following the [[Acts of Union 1707|Acts of Union]] in 1707, the English term 'county' came to be used interchangeably with the older term 'shire'.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brown |first1=Keith |title=Act of the convention of estates of the kingdom of Scotland etc. for a new and voluntary offer to his majesty of £72,000 monthly for the space of twelve months, 23 January 1667 |url=http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/1667/1/10 |website=Records of the Parliament of Scotland |publisher=University of St Andrews |access-date=25 February 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Scottish Counties and Parishes: their history and boundaries on maps |url=https://maps.nls.uk/geo/boundaries/history.html |website=National Library of Scotland |access-date=2 September 2024}}</ref>

Following the [[Jacobite rising of 1745]], the government passed the [[Heritable Jurisdictions (Scotland) Act 1746]], returning the appointment of sheriffs to the crown in those cases where they had become hereditary positions, as had been the case in Caithness.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Whetstone |first1=Ann E. |year= 1977|title=The Reform of the Scottish Sheriffdoms in the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries |journal=Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=61–71 |doi=10.2307/4048219 |jstor=4048219}}</ref> From 1748 the government merged the positions of Sheriff of Sutherland and Sheriff of Caithness into a single post. Although they shared a sheriff after 1748, Caithness and Sutherland remained legally separate counties, having their own commissioners of supply and, from 1794, their own [[Lord-lieutenant|lord lieutenants]].<ref>[[Sheriffs (Scotland) Act 1747]]</ref>

[[File:Wick Town Hall (geograph 6897593) cropped.jpg|thumb|left|[[Wick Town Hall]], built 1828: Former meeting place of both Caithness County Council and Wick Town Council]]
Although Wick had been declared the head burgh of the shire in 1641, for much of the next 200 years the sheriff held most courts and had his clerk's offices in Thurso. In 1828 a new Town and County Hall (now known as [[Wick Town Hall]]) was completed on Bridge Street in Wick, jointly funded by Wick Town Council and the county's commissioners of supply. Whilst it was under construction, the Wick authorities took legal action against the sheriff, successfully securing an order requiring him to hold regular courts and have his clerk's offices in Wick.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4xEvAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA32  |title= Sketch of the Civil and Traditional History of Caithness, from the Tenth Century|first= James Tait|last= Calder|year=1861|publisher=T. Murray & Son|page=32}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=2UBNAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA650  |title= Cases Decided in the Court of Session, Teind Court, Court of Exchequer and House of Lords |volume=6|year=1828|page=650|publisher=Scottish Council of Law Reporting}}</ref>

Elected county councils were established in 1890 under the [[Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889]], taking most of the functions of the commissioners of supply (which were eventually abolished in 1930). Caithness County Council held its first meeting on 22 May 1890 at the Town and County Hall in Wick.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wick |url=https://maps.nls.uk/townplans/background/wick.html |website=National Library of Scotland |access-date=28 September 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Caithness County Council |url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/search-newspapers |access-date=28 September 2024 |work=Northern Ensign |date=27 May 1890 |location=Wick |page=2}}</ref> The county council moved its administrative offices to the [[County Offices, Wick|County Offices]] on High Street, Wick, in 1930, but continued to hold its meetings at the Town and County Hall.<ref>{{Historic Environment Scotland|num= LB48834|desc= County Council Offices, 73, 75 & 77 High Street, Wick|access-date=18 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Shields |first1=Alan |title=From newspaper office to council HQ |url=https://www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk/news/from-newspaer-office-to-council-hq-122970/ |access-date=28 September 2024 |work=John O'Groat Journal and Caithness Courier |date=15 February 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=County of Caithness |url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/search-newspapers |access-date=28 September 2024 |work=John O'Groat Journal |date=26 December 1952 |location=Wick |page=1 |quote=The proposal will be considered by the County Council as a meeting to be held within the Town Hall, Wick, on Saturday, 28th February 1953...}}</ref>

The 1889 Act also led to a review of boundaries, with parish and county boundaries being adjusted to eliminate cases where parishes straddled county boundaries. The parish of [[Reay]] had straddled Sutherland and Caithness prior to the act; the county boundary was retained, but the part of Reay parish in Sutherland was transferred to the parish of [[Farr, Sutherland|Farr]] 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=129 |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_meygAAAAMAAJ/page/n165/mode/2up |access-date=1 October 2024}}</ref>