Exchequer Records

The exchequer, one of the earliest government departments, developed out of the king's chamber, the branch of the royal household which oversaw the royal finances. The chief financial officer was the king's great chamberlain. It was not a permanent body, meeting only to audit the accounts of the sheriffs and other collectors of royal revenues.

James I reformed the exchequer in the 1420s. Its functions were divided between the Comptroller (or Receiver General) and the Treasurer. The Comptroller handled the revenue from crown lands, burghs and customs which was spent on the royal household. The Treasurer received the feudal services and casualties (occasional payments to a superior of lands), the proceeds of taxation and the lucrative profits of justice. From these revenues he met the king's personal expenses (including military and naval expenses, liveries, stables, repair of palaces, alms). The first recorded mention of whisky can be found in an early exchequer roll of 1494.

James VI to the Union

In 1584 the exchequer was made a separate court of law. It settled permanently in Edinburgh and was staffed by judges from the Court of Session. James VI's reign also saw growth in its administrative functions. Faced with declining crown lands and revenues, the monarchy exploited customs and imposed import duties for the first time in 1597. Taxation became more frequent. In the reign of Charles I new taxes were imposed on a variety of consumer goods and investments and the land tax was increased.

During the 1640s and 1650s Scotland was heavily taxed to pay for the covenanting armies and the English occupation. The exchequer reverted to the management of the crown's traditional sources of revenue while taxation, excise and customs came under parliamentary control under the general direction of the Committee of Estates. During the period of the English occupation (1552-1660) management of Scottish revenues was placed under a new Court of Exchequer staffed by English judges. With Charles II's return in 1660 the exchequer was restored to its pre 1638 form.

Pre-Union Exchequer records, 1263-1707

The exchequer records provide the largest body of evidence for the pre-union administration of Scotland and are a rich source for all aspects of royal administration. Very few survive from before the reign of Robert I [1306-29]. Listed below are the major series of exchequer records. The majority of the records, apart from those which have been published, are unindexed. The administrative history of the pre-union exchequer and a detailed guide to its records is given in 'Guide to the National Archives of Scotland' (Stationery Office, 1996).

Pre-Union Exchequer publications

• 'The Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, 1326-1600', 23 vols. (1878-1908)
• 'The Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, 1473-1580', 13 vols (1877-1978)
• 'Accounts of the Masters of Works for building and repairing royal palaces and castles, 1529-1649', 2 vols (1957, 1982).
• 'Accounts of the Collectors of Thirds of Benefices, Scottish History Society, (1949)
• James Kirk, 'The Books of Assumption of the Thirds of Benefices', (1995)
• J Grant, 'The Old Scots Navy', Navy Records Society, (1914)
• C Dalton, 'The Scots Army', 1660-1688 (Edinburgh, 1909)
• R W Cochran Patrick, 'Records of the Coinage of Scotland' (1876)

The post-Union Exchequer

Under the Exchequer Court (Scotland) Act of 1707 the Scottish exchequer was reorganised on English lines under the Barons of Exchequer. The Treasury was abolished in 1708. The barons acted in both a judicial capacity, dealing with revenue cases, debts to the crown, seizure of smuggled goods and prosecutions for illicit brewing and distilling, and in an administrative capacity, mainly auditing accounts.

The separate Scottish Customs Board established at the union was abolished in 1823 and from the 1830s the powers of the barons were gradually reduced. The auditing of customs and excise accounts was transferred to Westminster. Under the Public Revenues (Scotland) Act of 1833, most of the remaining administrative functions reverted to the United Kingdom Treasury. In 1856 with the abolition of the exchequer, its judicial functions went to the Court of Session. The Exchequer Office (Scotland) continued until its final abolition in 1981 when its remaining functions were transferred to the Crown Office.

Because of its central place in the administration, the exchequer generated more records than any other Scottish government body in the century and a half after the Union. Many records were lost in a fire in 1811 but losses were partly made up by the number of duplicate or overlapping series. Most of the following records are un-indexed.

Post-Union exchequer publications

• 'Records of the Forfeited Estates Commission' (Public Record Office Handbook No 12, 1968)
• 'A Selection of Scottish Forfeited Estates Papers' (Scottish History Society, 1909)
• A M Smith, 'Jacobite Estates of the Forty-five' (1982)
• V Wills, 'Reports on the Annexed Estates, 1755-6' (1973)
• 'Statistics of the Annexed Estates' (1973)
• I H Adams, 'Descriptive List of Plans in the Scottish Record Office, vol.3' (1974)