Perthshire

Perthshire's origins as a shire (the area administered by a sheriff) are obscure, but it seems to have been created during the reign of David I (reigned 1124–1153).^[1]

The Sheriff of Perth had authority over several provinces, including Atholl, Breadalbane, Gowrie, Menteith and Strathearn. 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.^[2] Following the Acts of Union in 1707, the English term "county" came to be used interchangeably with the older term "shire".

 

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 Perth was deemed capable of managing its own affairs and so was excluded from the administrative area of the county council, although the county council still chose to base itself there.^[3] Perthshire County Council held its first official meeting on 22 May 1890 at Perth Sheriff Court, then also known as County Buildings, the courthouse (built 1819) which also served as the meeting place for the commissioners.^[4][5]

The 1889 Act also led to a review of boundaries, with exclaves being transferred to a county they actually bordered, and parishes which straddled more than one county being adjusted such that each parish was entirely in a single county. There were several such changes affecting the boundaries of Perthshire, notably including the exclaves of Culross and Tulliallan being transferred to Fife.^[6]

Reforms in 1930 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 saw the burgh of Perth brought within the administrative area of the county council, and merged the county councils of Perthshire and the neighbouring small county of Kinross-shire for most purposes. The two county councils continued to be elected as separate bodies, but operated together as the "Perth and Kinross Joint County Council", serving the combined area of the two counties.^[7][8]

 

As part of the same reforms, the county council took over the functions of the abolished Perthshire Education Authority. The education authority had bought the former County and City Infirmary on York Place in Perth (completed 1838) in 1920 to serve as its headquarters; after 1930 it served as the headquarters of the joint county council, and was renamed County Offices.^[9][10]

Perthshire was abolished as an administrative area in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. It was split between the Central and Tayside Regions:

• West Perthshire (the area west and south of Killin including Callander, Crianlarich and Aberfoyle) was included in the Stirling District of the Central Region.
• The parish of Muckhart was made part of Clackmannan District, also in the Central Region.
• Longforgan was included in the City of Dundee District, in the Tayside Region.
• The remainder of Perthshire was combined with Kinross-shire and the Angus parish of Kettins to form the Perth and Kinross District Council in Tayside.

The two-tier system introduced in 1975 was superseded by a system of unitary authorities in 1996. The districts of Tayside and Central Scotland all became unitary authorities, with Longforgan being transferred from Dundee to Perth and Kinross. The majority of historic Perthshire lies in Perth and Kinross. The exceptions are the southwestern part that is now in the Stirling council area and a few parishes that are now in Clackmannanshire. Perth and Kinross also contains some areas that were not historically in Perthshire, such as Kinross-shire. The lieutenancy areas in the area of historic Perthshire are mostly coterminous with the council areas, the exception being that the Stirling council area forms part of a larger Stirling and Falkirk lieutenancy.^[11] The boundaries of the historic county of Perthshire are still used for some limited official purposes connected with land registration, being a registration county.^[12]

The coat of arms of the County of Perth appears to have been granted for use on the colours and standards of the volunteer and militia units of the county raised at the end of the eighteenth century. The Earl of Kinnoull, a native of Perthshire, and commanding officer of the Perthshire Gentlemen and Yeomanry Cavalry, was also Lord Lyon King of Arms at the time, and he presented the arms to the county in 1800. The grant document was discovered in the Lyon Office in 1890, and forwarded to the newly formed Perth County Council.

The shield is very similar to the Scottish royal arms, reflecting that Perthshire was the home county of the House of Dunkeld and contains the former royal capital, Scone. Further royal references are made on the canton, which shows Scone Palace surmounted by the Crown of Scotland. The crest is a Highland soldier, reflecting that the famous Black Watch were formed in the county.^[13] The supporters are an eagle and a warhorse, the former from the arms of the city of Perth.

By the 1890s the county contained the following burghs, which were largely outside the county council's jurisdiction:

The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 divided burghs into two classes from 1930: large burghs, which were to gain extra powers from the county council, and small burghs which lost many of their responsibilities.

Of the twelve burghs in Perthshire, only Perth was made a large burgh. There were ten small burghs: Blairgowrie and Rattray being united into a single burgh. In 1947 Pitlochry was created a small burgh.

 

In 1894 parish councils were established for the civil parishes, replacing the previous parochial boards. The parish councils were in turn replaced by district councils in 1930.

Following the boundary changes caused by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, the county contained the following civil parishes:

In 1930 the landward area of the Local Government councils (the part outside of burgh boundaries) was divided into five districts, replacing the parish councils established in 1894:

• Central District
• Eastern District
• Highland District
• Perth District
• Western District

 

The county forms part of the Highland geographic area; it consists of predominantly mountainous and hilly land within the Grampian Mountains, interspersed with numerous lochs and glens. The highest point is Ben Lawers at 1,214 m (3,983 ft), making it the 10th highest peak in Scotland.^[15] Most towns are fairly small, with the larger ones being clustered in the flatter south-east of the county. In the far south along the borders with Clackmannanshhire and Kinross-shire lie the Ochil Hills, and in the south-east part of the Sidlaw Hills lie within the county, continuing on into Angus. Perthshire borders the Firth of Tay in the south-east, which provides access to the North Sea; along the north shore lies the Carse of Gowrie, an extremely flat area of land given over to agriculture. Within the Forth can be found the small island of Mugdrum.

• River Ardle
• River Earn
• River Ericht
• River Farg
• River Forth
• River Garry
• River Isla
• River Tay
• River Teith
• River Tummel

 

 

 

 

 

• Ben Lawers
• Ben Vorlich
• Ben Mhor
• Ben Vrackie
• Beinn a' Ghlò
• Schiehallion

 

The Highland Main Line railway line connects Perth to Inverness, and in the far west the West Highland Line criss-crosses the Perthshire-Argyllshire boundary. Other lines in the south-east link Perth to the towns of Fife and Stirlingshire.

Following the Act of Union, Perthshire returned members to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1708.

• The Royal Burgh of Perth originally formed part of the Perth burghs constituency along with burghs in Fife and Forfarshire. The Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1832 made Perth a separate burgh constituency.
• The remainder of the county returned a single member as the parliamentary county of Perthshire. The parishes of Tulliallan, Culross, Muckhart, and the Perthshire portions of the parishes of Logie and Fossaway were annexed to constituency of Clackmannanshire and Kinross in 1832.

In 1885 seats in the House of Commons were redistributed: Perthshire received three seats.

• Perth remained a burgh constituency.
• Perthshire Eastern
• Perthshire Western

In 1918 there was a further redistribution. Perthshire was combined with Kinross-shire to form a parliamentary county, divided into two constituencies:

• Perth constituency consisted of the burgh of Perth, the former Eastern constituency and part of the Western constituency. In 1950 it was renamed Perth and East Perthshire. The area included in the constituency was defined in 1948 and 1970 as the burghs of Perth, Abernethy, Alyth, Blairgowrie and Rattray and Coupar Angus; and the Eastern and Perth districts of the county of Perth.^[16]
• Kinross and Western Perthshire: the constituency consisted of the entire County of Kinross, the burghs of Aberfeldy, Auchterarder, Callander, Crieff, Doune, Dunblane and Pitlochry; and the Central, Highland and Western districts of the county of Perth.^[16]

These boundaries continued in use until 1983, when new constituencies were formed based on the Local Government regions and districts created in 1975.

Perthshire was represented in House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1975 to 2005.

Perthshire has two constituencies and two Members of Parliament.

• Ochil and South Perthshire
• Perth and North Perthshire

• “Perthshire” from A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland by Samuel Lewis, London, 1846 (British History Online)
• Perth & Kinross Council
• A Vision of Britain Through Time: A vision of Perth and Kinross

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