page_title: Heritable Jurisdictions (Scotland) Act 1746
section_title: Purpose
hierarchical_section_title: Heritable Jurisdictions (Scotland) Act 1746 / Purpose
caption_attribution_description: English: Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke (1690-1764) wearing the robes of the keeper of the Great Seal
context_page_description: The Heritable Jurisdictions (Scotland) Act 1746 was an Act of Parliament passed in the aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1745 abolishing judicial rights held by Scots heritors. These were a significant source of power, especially for clan chiefs since it gave them a large measure of control over their tenants.
  The position of Sheriff-principal originated in the 13th century and still exists in modern Scotland. Originally appointed by the Crown, over the centuries the majority had become hereditary, the holders appointing legal professionals known as Sheriff-deputes to do the work. The Act returned control of these to the Crown.
  Since Article XX of the 1707 Acts of Union recognised these rights as property, compensation was paid to the deprived heritors.
context_section_description: The long title of the Act, which sets out the scheme and intention, is:
  An Act for taking away and abolishing the Heretable Jurisdictions in Scotland; and for making Satisfaction to the Proprietors thereof; and for restoring such Jurisdictions to the Crown; and for making more effectual Provision for the Administration of Justice throughout that Part of the United Kingdom, by the King’s Courts and Judges there; ... and for rendering the Union of the Two Kingdoms more complete.
  For remedying the inconveniences that have arisen and may arise from the multiplicity and extent of heretable jurisdictions in Scotland, for making satisfaction to the proprietors thereof, for restoring to the crown the powers of jurisdiction originally and properly belonging thereto, according to the constitution, and for extending the influence, benefit, and protection of the King’s laws and courts of justice to all his Majesty’s subjects in Scotland, and for rendering the union more complete.
caption: Philip Yorke, Earl of Hardwicke (1690-1764) who drafted the 1746 Act
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke (1690-1764)", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "45", "Image YResolution": "45", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "GIMP 2.6.11", "Image DateTime": "2011:07:24 16:07:04", "Image Artist": "William Hoare of Bath", "Image Copyright": "http://www.sothebys.com/en/catalogues/ecatalogue.html/2011/old-master-early-british-paintings-l11030#/r=/en/ecat.fhtml.L11030.html+r.m=/en/ecat.lot.L11030.html/237/", "Image ExifOffset": "2526", "Image XPTitle": "[80, 0, 104, 0, 105, 0, 108, 0, 105, 0, 112, 0, 32, 0, 89, 0, 111, 0, 114, 0, ... ]", "Image XPComment": "[42, 0, 111, 0, 105, 0, 108, 0, 32, 0, 111, 0, 110, 0, 32, 0, 99, 0, 97, 0, ... ]", "Image XPAuthor": "William Hoare of Bath", "Image Padding": "[]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "5040", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6198", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1808", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2250", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}