The Archdeacon of St Andrews was the head of the Archdeaconry of St Andrews, a sub-division of the

Diocese of St Andrews The Archdiocese of St Andrews (originally the Diocese of St Andrews) was a territorial episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in early modern and medieval Scotland. It was the largest, most populous and wealthiest diocese of the mediev ...

, from the twelfth to the seventeenth century. The position was one of the most important positions within the medieval Scottish church; because of his area's large population and high number of parish churches, the Archdeacon of St Andrews may have exercised more power than many Scottish bishops. The following is a list of known archdeacons:

List of Archdeacons of St Andrews

* Matthew, 1147 x 1152-1172 * Walter de Roxburgh, 1173-1179 x 1188 *

Hugh de Roxburgh Hugh (or Hugo) de Roxburgh (or Hugo Cancellarius) was a late 12th century Chancellor of Scotland and bishop of Glasgow. He was rector of Tullibody and later Archdeacon of St. Andrews. He was elected to the see soon after the death of his predece ...

, 1189 x 1194-1199 * Ranulf de Wat, 1199-1209 * Laurence de Thorenton, 1209-1238 x 1240 * Adam, 1240-1248 * Abel de Golynn, 1250-1254 *

William Wishart :''See also William Wishart (disambiguation)'' William Wishart (or Wischard) (died 28 May 1279) was a 13th-century Bishop of St. Andrews. He was postulated to the see of St. Andrews (''Cell Rígmonaid'' or ''Cill Rìmhinn'') while holding the ...

, 1254-1273Became Bishop of St Andrews. * Alpín of Strathearn, 1278 * Gregory, 1279-1295 * John Fraser, 1296-1297 * Roger de Kingston, 1299 * Adam de Mauchan/Machane, 1301-1304 * ? * Robert de Lamberton, 1319-1323 *

James Bane James Bane (or Ben or Bennet) (died 1332) was Bishop of St. Andrews for a brief period in the early 14th century. In his earlier career, James had been a canon of Aberdeen and prebendary of Cruden. James rose to the position of Archdeacon of S ...

, 1325-1328. * William de Lindsay 1330. * William de Pilmuir, 1340-1345 x 1353 * Henry Stupy, x 1353. * William Wys, 1353-1354 * William de Greenlaw, 1353-1373 ** William de Chisholm, 1367 * John de Peebles (Peblis), 1374 -1378 x 1379 * Andrew de Trebrun, 1378 * Thomas Stewart, 1380-1430 * George Newton 1430 x 1431-1433 * Richard de Creich, 1430-1432. * Thomas de Myrton (Merton), 1431-1433 * William de Foulis, 1432-1441 * John Legat, 1443-1451 * Hugh Kennedy, x 1452 (?), 1454 * John Kennedy, 1454 * Hugh Douglas, 1454-1456 x 1457 * Walter Stewart, 1456 x 1457-1472 x 1474 * Hugh Douglas, 1466 *

William Scheves William Scheves (sometimes modernized to Chivas or Shivas) (died 1497) was the second Archbishop of St. Andrews. His parentage is obscure, but he was probably the illegitimate son of a royal clerk, John Scheves. Sixteenth-century accounts cl ...

1472 x 1474-1478 *

Robert Blackadder Robert Blackadder was a medieval Scottish cleric, diplomat and politician, who was abbot of Melrose, bishop-elect of Aberdeen and bishop of Glasgow; when the last was elevated to archiepiscopal status in 1492, he became the first ever archbisho ...

, 1477-1480Became Archbishop of St Andrews. * Andrew Stewart, 1479 * Alexander Inglis, 1480-1496. **

John Ireland John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in ''All the King's Men'' (1949), making him the first Vancouver-born actor to receive an Oscar nomin ...

, 1483-1485 * Robert de Fontibus (Wells), 1497-1501 * Alexander Stewart, 1502-1504 * Gavin Dunbar, 1504-1519 * Thomas Halkerston 1519-1521 x 1524 * John Cantuly, 1524-1537 *

George Durie George Durie (Dury confused by Watt & Shead with Drury) (died 1577), abbot of Dunfermline and archdeacon of St Andrews, son of John Durie of Durie in the county of Fife, and brother to Andrew Durie, bishop of Galloway, was born about 1496. Fro ...

, 1526-1559 * Robert Pitcairn, 1539-1584. * George Young, 1584-1603.Gordon Donaldson, ''Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland: 1581–1584'', vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1982), p. 488 no. 2757. * Alexander Gledstanes, 1612-1638

Notes

Bibliography

* Watt, D.E.R., ''Fasti Ecclesiae Scotinanae Medii Aevi ad annum 1638'', 2nd Draft, (St Andrews, 1969), pp. 304–9