Comptroller of Scotland

rdf:langString Comptroller of Scotland

rdf:langString The Comptroller of Scotland was a post in the pre-Union government of Scotland. The Treasurer and Comptroller had originated in 1425 when the Chamberlain's financial functions were transferred to them. From 1466 the Comptroller had sole responsibility for financing the royal household to which certain revenues (the property) were appropriated, with the Treasurer being responsible for the remaining revenue (the casualty) and other expenditure. By the 1530s the exchequer usually met in Edinburgh to audit and produce the accounts. Rooms were hired in the Blackfriars for the sessions. County sheriffs and other officials brought their reckonings to the exchequer. The accounts of the comptrollers were mostly in written in Latin, and were published as the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland. James VI attended the Exchequer in person in Edinburgh on 13 February 1595, which pleased courtiers who wished to see him manage his estate. According to Roger Aston, he criticised inefficient exchequer officers who failed to maximise his revenues, forcing him to raise loans or tax his subjects. The offices of Lord High Treasurer, Comptroller, Collector-General and Treasurer of the New Augmentation were held by the same person from 1610 onwards, but their separate titles survived the effective merging of their functions in 1635. From 1667 to 1682 the Treasury was in commission, and again from 1686 to 1708, when the separate Scottish Treasury was abolished. From 1690 the Crown nominated one person to sit in Parliament as Treasurer.