History

Although Lieutenants were appointed to a few counties in Scotland from about 1715, it was not until 1794 that permanent lieutenancies were established by Royal Warrant. The warrant ordered the development of volunteer forces for the defence of the country. Forces were based in each County and led by a Lord-Lieutenant who was directly appointed by the sovereign. The Lord-Lieutenant in turn appointed deputies. The duties of the Lieutenants included provision for the protection of their counties in the event of invasion, threat or civil uprising. They directed volunteer forces and, after the 1797 Militia Act, were empowered to raise and command county militia units.

After 1802 only a landholder who held or was heir to property worth £400 Scots was eligible to serve in the lieutenancy. The Lord-Lieutenant was ex officio a member of the police committee and the local authority under the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Acts but the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 abolished these functions and the role of lieutenancies gradually became largely ceremonial.

Lord-Lieutenants of East Lothian

1794 - George (Hay) 7th Marquess of Tweeddale

1804 – Charles (Hamilton) 8th Earl of Haddington

1823 – George (Hay) 8th Marquess of Tweeddale

1876 - George (Baillie-Hamilton-Arden) 11thEarl of Haddington

1918 - Hugo Richard (Charteris) 11th Earl of Wemyss

1937 – Walter George (Hepburne-Scott) 9th Lord Polwarth

1944 – William George Montagu (Hay) 11th Marquess of Tweeddale

1967 – Francis David (Charteris) 12th Earl of Wemyss

1987 – Sir Hew Fleetwood Hamilton-Dalrymple 10th Bt.

2001 – Sir William Garth Morrison

2014 – Major Michael Ingouville Williams

2021 – Roderick Macduff Urquhart