Alexander Moncrieff, Lord Moncrieff FRSE (14 August 1870 – 5 August 1949), was a Scottish lawyer and judge, who was created a Senator of the College of Justice.

Life

Alexander Moncrieff was the third son of Hope Margaret Pattison and her husband Alexander Moncrieff, Advocate and Sheriff of Ross and Cromarty. Moncrieff studied law at the universities of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

."New Lord Justice-Clerk"
''

Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

'', 21 February 1947, page 5. Retrieved 12 March 2010. In 1894 Moncrieff was called to the Scottish bar and in 1912 he became a King's Counsel. At this time he was living at 11 Lynedoch Place in Edinburgh's West End. In January 1926 he was created a Senator of the College of Justice with the title of Lord Moncrieff. He was the judge for the original trial in

Donoghue v. Stevenson was a Lists of landmark court decisions, landmark court decision in Scots delict law and English tort law by the House of Lords. It laid the foundation of the modern law of negligence in Common law jurisdictions worldwide, as well as in Scotlan ...

. In 1941 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Thomas Graham Robertson, Lord Robertson, Sir Edmund Taylor Whittaker,

John Alexander Inglis John Alexander Inglis of Auchendinny and Redhall FRSE KC LLB (1873 – 1941) was a Scottish landowner, advocate and historian. He specialised in family histories of Scotland’s gentry. Life He was born at Montpelier Lawn in Cheltenham in En ...

and Sir Ernest Wedderburn. He became

Lord Justice Clerk The Lord Justice Clerk is the second most senior judge in Scotland, after the Lord President of the Court of Session. Originally ''clericus justiciarie'' or Clerk to the Court of Justiciary, the counterpart in the criminal courts of the Lord ...

in February 1947, succeeding Lord Cooper, but resigned later that year on the grounds of ill-health."Lord Moncrieff Resigns"
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'', 7 October 1947, page 3. Retrieved 12 March 2010. In May 1947, he became a Privy Counsellor. He died on 5 August 1949.

Personal life

In 1913, Moncrieff married a widow, Helen Spens (née McClelland Adams). They had three children: Helen Margaret Moncrieff (who went on to become well known as a cellist), Hugh, and Philip. Moncrieff's daughter, Margaret Moncrieff, married the well-known Scottish pianist Alexander Kelly; and they had two daughters, Catriona Helen Moncrieff Kelly and Alison Mary Moncrieff Kelly. Catriona is Professor of Russian at New College, Oxford; and Alison is a cellist. Alison has two children, Alexander Davan Wetton and Camilla Davan Wetton.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moncrieff, Alexander 1870 births 1949 deaths Moncrief Alumni of the University of Glasgow Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Members of the Faculty of Advocates Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Scottish King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel Lords Justice Clerk