There are two distinct sheriffdoms associated with the region of Fife in Scotland. In 1881, the administrative sheriffdom was combined with the former sheriffdom of Kinross, resulting in the establishment of the Sheriff of Fife and Kinross. This combined sheriffdom existed until 1975, when it was largely incorporated into the new, larger sheriffdom of Tayside, Central and Fife.
The administrative Sheriffs of Fife had the duty of upholding law and order in Fife, and ensuring that criminals were brought to justice. Until 1748, these administrative sheriffdoms were predominantly held hereditarily. However, after the Jacobite uprising of 1745, they were replaced by salaried sheriff-deputes who were qualified advocates and members of the Scottish Bar.
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Sheriffs of Fife
David de Wymess (c. 1170)
Geoffrey de Inverkunglas (1213)
John Hay of Naughton (1227–1228)
Inghram de Balfour (1229)
John Hay of Naughton (1233–1234)
David de Wymess (1239)
Ingram de Balliol (1240)
David de Lochore (1264)
Alexander Synton (1281)
Hugh de Lochore (1289)
Constantine de Lochore (1290)
John de Valognes (1292)
Hugh de Lochore (1293)
David Barclay (1295)
John de Valognes (1296)
Duncan Balfour (-1298)
John Balfour (1300)
Constantine de Lochore (1304–1305)
Richard Siward (1305)
David Barclay (1306)
Michael Balfour (1314–1315)
David Barclay (1328)
Patrick de Polwarth (1332)
John Balfour (1344)
David de Wymess (1358–1360)
William Disshington (1370)
David de Barclay (1372)
Alan Erskine (1388)
George Leslie (1396)
John Lumsden of Glengirnock (1424)
Henry of Wardlaw - 1439 - Deputy
Robert Livingston of Drumry (1449)
Andrew Lundy (1452)
Andrew Sibbald (1456)
Alexander Kennedy (1464)
Andrew Lundy (1452)
John Balfour (1475)
Andrew Lundin of Balgonie (1497–1512)
John Lindsay, 5th Lord Lindsay (at 1526)
George Leslie, Earl of Rothes (1529–1540)
John Murray, 2nd Earl of Atholl (1660)
Sheriffs-Depute
1748–1761: Hon James Leslie of Mildeans
1761–1780: James Dalgliesh of Scotscraig
1780–1799: Claud Irvine Boswell of Balmuto
1799–>1802: Neil Fergusson of Pitculle
1807–1811: David Monypenny, Lord Pitmilly
1811–:John Anstruther
c.1822–1838: Andrew Clephane
1838–1861: Alexander Earle Monteith
1861–1870: Donald Mackenzie
1870–1881: James Arthur Crichton
Sheriffs of Kinross
John de Kinross (1264)
John de Kinross (1290)
Alan de Vipont (1328)
John de Crichton (1360)
Alan Erskine (1364)
Robert Halket (1373)
Sheriffs of Fife and Kinross (1881)
1881–1886: James Arthur Crichton
1886–1901: Aeneas James George Mackay
1901–1905: Charles Kincaid Mackenzie
1905–1906: Robert Tannahill Younger
1906–1909: William James Cullen, Lord Cullen KC
1909–1910 George Lewis MacFarlane KC
1910–1913: Thomas Brash Morison
1913–1926: James Alexander Fleming
1926–1937: John Charles Fenton
1937–1941: John Rudolph Wardlaw Burnet
1941–1971: John Adam Lillie
1971–1974: Charles Eliot Jauncey
In 1975 the sheriffdom was largely merged into the new sheriffdom of Tayside, Central and Fife.