Moray: History
The name, first attested around 970 as Moreb, and in Latinised form by 1124 as Moravia, derives from the earlier Celtic forms *mori 'sea' and *treb 'settlement' (cf. Welsh môr-tref).
During the Middle Ages, the Province of Moray was much larger than the modern council area, also covering much of what is now Highland. During this period Moray's status fluctuated; it was sometimes an independent kingdom, and at other times a vassal of Alba (early Scotland) to the south. In the early 12th century, Moray's last independent ruler, Óengus of Moray, was defeated by David I of Scotland, and the area was then absorbed into the Kingdom of Scotland. It was divided into the shires of Elginshire, Nairnshire and the mainland parts of Inverness-shire. Elginshire was seen as the core of the old Moray territory and so was often informally called Moray. In 1919 Elginshire County Council renamed the county Moray.
The modern territory called Moray was created in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which abolished Scotland's counties, burghs and landward districts and replaced them with a two-tier system of regions and districts. The new Moray district covered ten of the twelve previous districts of the county of Moray plus over half of the area of the neighbouring county of Banffshire to the east:
From the county of Moray
Burghead burgh
Duffus and Drainie district
Elgin burgh
Elgin district
Fochabers district
Forres burgh
Forres district
Lossiemouth and Branderburgh burgh
Rothes burgh
Rothes and Knockando burgh
From Banffshire
Aberlour burgh
Buckie burgh
Buckie district
Cullen burgh
Cullen district (except parish of Fordyce, which went to Banff and Buchan)
Dufftown burgh
Dufftown district
Findochty burgh
Keith burgh
Keith district
Portknockie burgh
The only two districts from the pre-1975 county of Moray that were not included in the new Moray district were the burgh of Grantown-on-Spey and the surrounding Cromdale district, which went instead to the Badenoch and Strathspey district of the Highland region. This area had been a comparatively recent addition to the county, having been part of Inverness-shire until 1870. The eastern parts of Banffshire not included in the new Moray district went to the Banff and Buchan district. Moray District Council was a district-level authority, with regional-level functions provided by the Grampian Regional Council, based in Aberdeen.
The districts and regions created in 1975 were abolished in 1996, under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 and replaced with single-tier council areas. The Moray district became one of the new council areas.
The boundaries of the pre-1975 county of Moray are still used for some limited official purposes connected with land registration, being a registration county. The Moray lieutenancy area covers the parts of the pre-1975 county that are within the modern council area (being the pre-1975 county excluding Cromdale and Grantown-on-Spey). The Banffshire lieutenancy area covers the pre-1975 county, which therefore straddles the modern Moray and Aberdeenshire council areas.