The mainland part of Inverness-shire was anciently part of the
Province of Moray, ruled by the
Earls or Mormaers of Moray, sometimes as a
vassal of the Scottish crown, and at other times effectively as a separate kingdom. The
province was finally brought fully into the
Kingdom of Scotland during the 12th century. In order to secure the Scottish crown's authority over the area, it was divided into
shires, being areas administered by a
sheriff. The old province of Moray was broadly split into the three shires of
Elginshire,
Nairnshire, and Inverness-shire, with Inverness-shire including the areas of the
provincial lordships of
Badenoch and
Lochaber which were subordinate to Moray. Around the same time, the Scottish crown was also trying to secure its control on
Ross and
Caithness (which then included
Sutherland), the mainland provinces north of Moray. The Scottish crown had claimed them since 1098, when
Norwegian overlordship of that area had been ceded to Scotland but, like Moray, they had remained largely independent. Whereas Moray was divided into shires at some point during the 12th century, Ross and Caithness were not made shires at that time. Instead, the
Sheriff of Inverness was given authority (at least nominally) over the northern provinces too. By the mid-13th century, there were sheriffs at
Cromarty and
Dingwall in Ross, but the extent of their control was fairly limited, with the Sheriff of Inverness still responsible for most of Ross and Caithness. The position of
Sheriff of Dingwall did not endure. In the 15th century, the quasi-independent
Lordship of the Isles was fully incorporated into the kingdom of Scotland, and the Sheriff of Inverness was then also made responsible for the
Outer Hebrides and some of the
Inner Hebrides, notably
Skye. 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 and Caithness to be separate shires. That act was set aside for most purposes in 1509; the northern areas eventually regained their independence from the sheriff of Inverness with the creation of the shires of
Sutherland in 1633, Caithness in 1641, and
Ross-shire in 1661. Ross-shire also included the northern Outer Hebrides, notably the
Isle of Lewis. After 1661, Inverness-shire therefore comprised the western part of the province of Moray on the mainland, the southern Outer Hebrides, and some of the Inner Hebrides. 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 in 1707, the English term 'county' came to be used interchangeably with the older term 'shire'. In 1870,
Cromdale and
Grantown-on-Spey were transferred from Inverness-shire to Elginshire in exchange for the area around
Aviemore.
Inverness-shire County Council Elected county councils were established in 1890 under the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, taking most of the functions of the commissioners (which were eventually abolished in 1930). The
burgh of Inverness was deemed capable of providing its own county-level local government functions, and so it was excluded from the administrative area of the county council, although the county council still chose to base itself there. Inverness-shire County Council held its first meeting on 22 May 1890 in the county's main courthouse at
Inverness Castle, which had been rebuilt in 1836. The 1889 act also led to a review of boundaries, with
exclaves being transferred to a county they actually bordered, and parish and county boundaries being adjusted to eliminate cases where parishes straddled county boundaries. There were several such changes affecting the boundaries of Inverness-shire. Notable changes included gaining the
Small Isles of
Canna,
Muck and
Rùm from Argyll. Exceptionally, the parish of
Croy and
Dalcross was allowed to continue to straddle Inverness-shire and Nairnshire. The boundary changes all took effect in 1891. Inverness was subsequently brought within the administrative area of the county council in 1930, but classed as a
large burgh, allowing the town council to continue to provide most local government services. , Glenurquhart Road, Inverness: County Council's main offices. 1876 former school building to left, 1963 extension to right. From the 1930s onwards the county council used the former Inverness College building at the corner of Ardross Street and Glenurquhart Road (built 1876) as its offices, renaming it
County Buildings. The building was substantially extended in 1963 to provide additional offices, but council meetings continued to be held at Inverness Castle until the county council's abolition in 1975. In 1955 the
UK Government claimed sovereignty over
Rockall, an uninhabited
islet in the
North Atlantic Ocean, which lies west of
St Kilda. Under the
Island of Rockall Act 1972, Rockall was assigned to the
Harris district of Inverness-shire. The UK claim on Rockall is disputed, particularly by
Ireland.
Since 1975 Local government was reformed in 1975 under the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which replaced Scotland's counties,
burghs and
landward districts with a two-tier structure of upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts for most of Scotland. A single-tier structure of island areas was used for
Orkney,
Shetland and the
Western Isles. The mainland and Inner Hebrides parts of Inverness-shire became part of the
Highland Region, whilst the Outer Hebrides parts (the districts of
Barra,
Harris,
North Uist and
South Uist) became part of the Western Isles. The parts of Inverness-shire which went to the Highland Region were split between four lower-tier
districts: •
Badenoch and Strathspey district, covering the burgh of
Kingussie and district of
Badenoch from Inverness-shire, plus the burgh of
Grantown-on-Spey and
Cromdale district from
Moray. •
Inverness district, covering the burgh of Inverness and districts of
Aird and Inverness. •
Lochaber district, covering the burgh of
Fort William and district of Lochaber (which included the
Small Isles) from Inverness-shire, plus the
Ardnamurchan district and
Ballachulish and
Kinlochleven electoral divisions from Argyll. •
Skye and Lochalsh district, covering the
Skye district from Inverness-shire, plus the South West District from
Ross and Cromarty. Prior to 1975, each county had appointed a
lord-lieutenant. As part of the 1975 reforms, new
lieutenancy areas were established instead. Inverness-shire was split between three lieutenancy areas: •
Inverness, covering the combined area of the new Badenoch and Strathspey, Inverness, and Lochaber districts (which included all the mainland parts of pre-1975 Inverness-shire). •
Ross and Cromarty, covering both the Skye and Lochalsh district and the neighbouring
Ross and Cromarty district. •
Western Isles. The last Lord Lieutenant of the county,
Donald Hamish Cameron of Lochiel, became Lord Lieutenant of the new Inverness lieutenancy area. Further local government reforms in 1996 under the
Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 saw the regions and districts created in 1975 abolished and replaced with single-tier
council areas. The former Highland region became one of the new council areas. The lieutenancy areas continue to be defined as they had been in 1975 despite the abolition of the districts on which they were based. The boundaries of the historic county of Inverness-shire (as it was following the 1891 boundary changes) are still used for some limited official purposes connected with land registration, being a
registration county. In 1998 the Western Isles Council formally changed the English language version of the area's name from Western Isles to
Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Scots Gaelic for 'Western Isles'), to be used in both English and Gaelic contexts. ==Geography==