Two records, two jobs

The Scottish Barony Register replaces the Register of Sasines for baronies: it records legal title. The Roll of Scottish Barons records recognition. Complementary, not competing.

Legal title and recognition

Legal title and recognition are two different things — and the Roll of the Peerage shows why. Andrew Mountbatten Windsor remains Duke of York in law, because only an Act of Parliament can extinguish a peerage; what the King’s removal of his name from the Roll of the Peerage in 2025 withdrew was recognition of the title, not the legal title. A Scottish barony stands on the same footing: only an Act of Parliament can extinguish it. And because baronies are legally assignable, each record has a distinct purpose — the Scottish Barony Register records legal title; the Roll of Scottish Barons records recognition, and the conduct that goes with it, as the Rolls of the Peerage and the Baronetage do in their own spheres.

The Roll is on friendly terms with the Custodian of the Scottish Barony Register: the two records work alongside each other, not against.

Is there an official register of Scottish baronies?

No. Since 28 November 2004 a barony cannot be registered in the Land Register of Scotland or recorded in the Register of Sasines, under the 2000 Act, and no statute has created a register in their place. The Scottish Barony Register (SBR) is a private, non-statutory register. It replaces the Register of Sasines for the transfers of baronies voluntarily submitted to it since 2004, and records legal title, no more: it does not recognise or decline to recognise a title. At its update of 9 August 2026 the SBR listed 214 baronies, the holder’s name shown as private for 143 of them.

The Roll of Scottish Barons does a different job. It recognises the title and catalogues the whole Baronage of Scotland, including dignities held by dynastic succession, chiefs, baronets and peers, which pass by inheritance and so have never appeared in any register of transfers. As of 27 September 2026 it records 244 verified holders with 325 dignities in the baronage of Scotland between them; 137 of the holders are entered as pledged hereditary, and a further 197 claims await verification and are not on the Roll. Nothing on the Roll is taken on trust: the evidence for every entry is published beside it, so anyone can judge the authority for themselves.

The Lord Lyon accepts the SBR Custodian’s certification as evidence of title. We recognise the SBR as an authoritative source, and recommend that every holder of a Scottish barony record their legal title there. Side by side:

Comparison of the Scottish Barony Register and the Roll of Scottish Barons
Comparison point	Scottish Barony Register (SBR)	The Roll of Scottish Barons
What it is	A private register of legal transfers, established in 2004 by members of the Scottish legal profession, under a Custodian	The open-source verification roll of the Baronage of Scotland, maintained by the Association
Who it is for	Solicitors and the Lord Lyon: the record relied on when a barony is assigned, and when a petition is presented to the Lyon Court	The public: an open online record of who holds which dignity, and on what evidence — recognition and conduct, as with the Rolls of the Peerage and the Baronetage
Official status	Non-statutory; not an official register. The Custodian’s certification is accepted by the Lord Lyon as evidence of title	Non-statutory; not an official register. Bears on recognition only, never on legal title
What it records	Transfers of baronies since 28 November 2004, as voluntarily submitted	Aggregator of all Baronage of Scotland titles — including those held by dynastic succession, chiefs, baronets and peers, which appear in no register of transfers
What an entry shows	That a legal assignation was recorded	That the dignity and its holder have been verified against open-sourced evidence
Evidence	The assignation submitted for recording	Lyon Court instruments, SBR certification, government gazette citations (Lyon Court), original documents — published with each entry
Unverified titles	Not its function: the SBR records transfers; it neither recognises nor declines to recognise a title	Not recognised. Under the Roll’s published rules, listed barons and cooperating organisations agree not to recognise unverified titles
The Pledge	—	Holders may pledge their barony upon the Roll: The Pledge preserves it within the family line as a pledged hereditary title, bound by the Baronial Code of Honour — a compact in honour, not law
Cost	A recording fee, set by the SBR	Free, for life — nobody pays to be listed
Kept by	The Custodian, a retired solicitor and Writer to His Majesty’s Signet, supported by a board of directors	Maintained under the oversight of the Association’s supporters and Governing Council, whose members are published by name, with their records
In a phrase	Replaces the Register of Sasines for baronies: records legal title voluntarily submitted	Recognises the title and catalogues all titles in the Baronage of Scotland

What it is