TheSheriff of Caithness was historically the royal official responsible for enforcing law and order inCaithness, Scotland.

The sheriffdom of Caithness appears to have been created in the mid 12th century and to have been dissolved and incorporated into thesheriffdom of Inverness in the 13th century. in 1455,William Sinclair, Earl of Caithness gained a grant of the justiciary and sheriffdom of the area from the Sheriff of Inverness. Prior to 1748 most sheriffdoms were held on a hereditary basis. From that date, following the Jacobite uprising of 1745, the hereditary sheriffs were replaced by salaried sheriff-deputes, qualified advocates who were members of the Scottish Bar.

In 1747, the office became known as theSheriff of Caithness & Sutherland, however the sheriffdoms were disunited in 1806 again being known as theSheriff of Caithness. It became theSheriff of Sutherland & Caithness in 1857.^[1] In 1870 the office became known as theSheriff of Caithness, Orkney & Shetland.^[2] It was again reorganised as theSheriff of Caithness, Sutherland, Orkney & Zetland in 1946, but was abolished in 1975 when the current sheriffdom ofGrampian, Highland and Islands was created.

This list isincomplete; you can help byadding missing items.(February 2017)

• William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness, 1455–1470
• George Sinclair, 5th Earl of Caithness, toc. 1616[3]
• John Sinclair, 1649–^[4]
• James Sinclair, pre 1661
• George Sinclair, 6th Earl of Caithness, 1661– (contested at first by rival claim of William Sinclair of Dunbeath)^[5]
• John Sinclair
• John Campbell, 1st Earl of Breadalbane and Holland
• Hereditary with theEarls of Breadalbane until 1735.
• George Sinclair, 1735–^[6]

• James Brodie of Spynie, 1747–1756^[7]
• John Sinclair the younger, 1756–1784^[7]
• James Traill, 1784–1806^[8][7] (Sheriff of Caithness, 1806–)

• For Sutherland sheriffs for 1806–1857 seeSheriff of Sutherland

• James Traill, 1806–1832^[8]
• James Ivory, 1832–1833^[9] (Sheriff of Bute, 1834–38)
• Robert Thomson, 1835–1857^[10]

• George Dingwall Fordyce 1857–1870^[11] (Sheriff of Ross, Cromarty and Sutherland, 1870–1874)
• For Sutherland after 1870 seeSheriff of Ross, Cromarty and Sutherland

• George Hunter MacThomas Thoms, 1870–1899^[12]
• Christopher Nicholson Johnston, 1899–1900^[13]
• John Wilson, 1900–1905^[13][14] (Sheriff of Inverness, Elgin and Nairn, 1905–1912)
• Frank Towers Cooper 1905–1905^[15][16]
• John Ferguson M'Lennan, KC, 1905–1917^[16][17]
• Andrew Henderson Briggs Constable, 1917–1920^[17][18] (Sheriff of Argyll, 1920)
• James Campbell Pitman, 1920–1929^[18][19]
• Alexander Maitland, QC, 1929–1931^[19][20]
• John Charles Watson, QC, 1931–1944^[20][21]
• Thomas Blantyre Simpson, QC, 1944-1946^[21][22]

• Thomas Blantyre Simpson, QC, 1946–1952^[22][23](Sheriff of Perth and Angus, 1952–1954)
• Francis Clifford Watt, QC, 1952–1961^[23][24](Sheriff of Stirling, Dunbarton and Clackmannan, 1961)
• Harald Robert Leslie, 1961–1965^[24] (Chairman ofScottish Land Court, 1965)
• Sir Frederick William Fitzgerald O'Brien, 1965–1975^[25][26]

• Sheriffdom abolished in 1975 and replaced by the current sheriffdom ofGrampian, Highland and Islands

• Historical development of Scottish sheriffdoms

• Scottish sheriffs
• Caithness
• Orkney
• Shetland

• Use British English from September 2019
• All Wikipedia articles written in British English
• Use dmy dates from September 2019
• Incomplete lists from February 2017