Abolition of Heritable Jurisdictions Act

The Abolition of Heritable Jurisdictions Act was passed in Great Britain in 1747. This act abolished the hereditary rights of local lords and chiefs to act as petty kings over their tenants and followers. Prior to this act, these "heritable jurisdictions" gave significant power to Highland lords and chiefs in Scotland. The failure of the second Jacobite rising in 1745, in which most people in Argyllshire supported the Hanoverian king, led to important political and economic changes, including the abolition of these jurisdictions. This reform shifted the focus of landlords from loyalty to their tenants to the rents they collected, leading to the displacement of many tenants and subsequent emigration.1