Scottish Counties

Counties were administrative areas in Scotland from later medieval times until 1975. Initially the unit was a judicial one, the sheriffdom. Sheriffs were local judges and crown officials appointed from the 12th century until the present day. A sheriffdom consisted of a group of parishes over which the sheriff had jurisdiction. In the mid-nineteenth century the boundaries of some counties and sheriffdoms were to diverge. Many important series of records in Scotland are arranged by county.