Moray was a
province in the
Middle Ages, covering a much larger area than the later county. It lay to the north of the
Kingdom of Alba (early Scotland), sometimes functioning as a
vassal of the Scottish crown, and at other times operating as a separate kingdom. Moray was finally absorbed into the Kingdom of Scotland during the 12th century. ,
diocese, and
earldom of Moray, which each had different definitions (and were subject to occasional changes). 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 earldom of Moray was broadly split into the three shires of Elginshire,
Nairnshire, and the mainland parts of
Inverness-shire. There is some evidence that these shires were established under
David I (reigned 1124–1153), but the earliest documented
Sheriff of Elgin was in the 13th century. There was also a short-lived shire centred on
Forres, which in the early 14th century was grouped with Nairn, before later being united instead with Elgin. The shire of Elgin was therefore sometimes called the shire of 'Elgin and Forres'. 'Murrayshire' and 'Morrowshire' were sometimes used historically as alternate spellings. 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'. The population of Elginshire in 1841 was 35,012. There were occasional adjustments to county boundaries. For example, in 1870, an
exclave of Inverness-shire (surrounded by Nairnshire, Elginshire and Banffshire), including
Cromdale and
Grantown-on-Spey, was transferred to Elginshire, while the Elginshire's southern exclave around
Abernethy and
Duthil went to Inverness-shire. : The county's main courthouse, built 1866. 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 Elgin 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. Elginshire County Council held its first meeting on 22 May 1890 at the Old Courthouse (built 1837) which adjoined
Elgin Sheriff Court. The Old Courthouse also served as the meeting place for the commissioners. 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 Elginshire, notably absorbing three detached parts of Nairnshire which were surrounded by Elginshire. At a meeting on 7 May 1919, Elginshire County Council voted to change the name of the county from the County of Elgin or Elginshire to Moray. The government responded by directing all departments to use Moray, but noted that the legal name would remain Elgin until such time as it could be changed by statute. The statutory change of name from Elgin to Moray eventually took place in 1947 under the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947. Reforms in 1930 under the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 saw the burgh of Elgin brought within the administrative area of the county council, and merged the county councils of Moray and neighbouring Nairnshire for most purposes. The two county councils continued to be elected as separate bodies, but operated together as the "Joint County Council of Moray and Nairn", serving the combined area of the two counties. Moray County Council was initially based at the Old Courthouse adjoining Elgin Sheriff Court on the High Street in Elgin. By the 1930s it was too small and so was demolished and replaced by a new headquarters on the same site, called the 'County Buildings'. Work began on the new building in 1938 but was paused due to the
Second World War. The new building was eventually completed in 1952. In 1975 the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 reorganised local government in Scotland into a two-tier system of
regions and districts. The burgh of Grantown-on-Spey and district of Cromdale which surrounded it (which area had been in Inverness-shire prior to 1870), was included in the
Badenoch and Strathspey district of the
Highland region. The rest of the pre-1975 county of Moray was included in a new district called
Moray in the
Grampian region, which also took in significant territory from the western part of
Banffshire. In 1996 the Scottish local government system was reorganised again, this time into single-tier
council areas. The Moray district became one of the new council areas. The boundaries of the pre-1975 county of Moray are still used for some limited official purposes connected with land registration, being a
registration county. The pre-1975 county of Moray excluding Cromdale and Grantown-on-Spey also serves as a lieutenancy area. == Coat of arms ==