Secretary for Scotland - Definition and Overview

The Secretary for Scotland was the former title of the chief minister in charge of the Scotland Office in the United Kingdom government. The post of Secretary of State for Scotland existed briefly after the union of the English and Scottish parliaments in 1707 till the Jacobite rebellion of 1745. After the rebellion, responsibility for Scotland lay primarily with the office of the Home Secretary, usually exercised by the Lord Advocate. 1885 saw the creation of the Scotland Office and the post of Secretary for Scotland. From 1892 the Secretary for Scotland sat in cabinet, but the position was not officially recognised as a full cabinet member until the post of Secretary of State for Scotland was recreated in 1926.

Secretaries for Scotland (1885-1926)

• Duke of Richmond and Gordon (August 17, 1885 - January 28, 1886)
• George Otto Trevelyan (February 8, 1886 - March, 1886) (Resigned)
• Earl of Dalhousie (April 5, 1886 - July 20, 1886)
• Arthur Balfour (August 5, 1886 - March 11, 1887)
• Marquess of Lothian (March 11, 1887 - August 11, 1892)
• George Otto Trevelyan (August 18, 1892 - June 21, 1895)
• Lord Balfour of Burleigh (June 29, 1895 - October 9, 1903) (Resigned)
• Alexander Murray (October 9, 1903 - February 2, 1905)
• Marquess of Linlithgow (February 2, 1905 - December 4, 1905)
• John Sinclair (1st Baron Pentland 1909) (December 10, 1905 - February 13, 1912)
• Thomas McKinnon Wood (February 13, 1912 - July 9, 1916)
• Harold Tennant (July 9, 1916 - December 5, 1916)
• Robert Munro (December 10, 1916 - October 19, 1922)
• Viscount Novar (October 24, 1922 - January 22, 1924)
• William Adamson (January 22, 1924 - November 3, 1924)
• Sir John Gilmour (November 6, 1924 - July 26, 1926)