Alexander Swinton, Lord Mersington (1625–1700) was a Scottish judge.
Biography
Swinton, the second son of Sir Alexander Swinton of Swinton in Berwickshire, was born between 1621 and 1630.
John Swinton (1621?–1679) was his elder brother. Alexander is first mentioned as fighting in the
battle of Worcester
The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of Worcester, England and was the last major battle of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell d ...
on the side of King
Charles II of Scotland, where he was taken prisoner. He was admitted advocate on 27 July 1671.
Swinton was a zealous Presbyterian, and his dissatisfaction with the government continued, and he relinquished his profession in 1681 rather than take the Test. He was restored by the king's letter of dispensation on 16 December 1686, and was admitted a
Lord Ordinary
A Lord Ordinary is any judge in the Outer House
The Outer House (abbreviated as CSOH in neutral citations) is one of the two parts of the Scottish Court of Session, which is the supreme civil court in Scotland. It is a court of first inst ...
on 23 June 1688, in place of
John Wauchope of Edmonston, taking the title of Lord Mersington, after a place in the parish of
Eccles. At the
Glorious Revolution which followed immediately, Mersington acted a conspicuous part in the attack on
Holyrood House
The Palace of Holyroodhouse ( or ), commonly referred to as Holyrood Palace or Holyroodhouse, is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edi ...
, and, according to a letter "to the late king in France" from
Lord Balcarres
Earl of Balcarres is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1651 for Alexander Lindsay, 2nd Lord Balcarres. Since 1848, the title has been held jointly with the Earldom of Crawford, and the holder is also the hereditary clan chief
...
, who designated Mersington the "fanatique judge", Swinton joined the supporters of
William of Orange "with a halbert in his hand, and as drunk as ale or brandy could make him".
Swinton was reappointed a judge in November 1689, he, Sir
James Dalrymple of Stair, and Sir
John Baird of Newblyth being the only judges who had previously sat on the bench, and Swinton having been the only one of
James II's (VII of Scotland) judges who was continued in office by William III. In July 1690 he was appointed a visitor in the act for the visitation of universities, colleges, and schools, and in June 1698 was elected to sit as president until a question as to the nomination of Sir
Hew Dalrymple should be confirmed.
[ cites: Brunton and Haig, Senators of the College of Justice.] He continued in office until his death, which took place suddenly in August 1700.
Assessment
Sir James Stewart, lord advocate, wrote of him at the time to Carstares, "He was a good man, and is much regretted".
Family
He married, first, a daughter of Sir
Alexander Dalmahoy; and, secondly, Alison Skene, of the family of Hallyards, by whom he had many daughters. His wife is said to have joined a mob of women in petitioning parliament in 1674 against
Lauderdale's scheme for new modelling the privy council. At the time it was deemed unsafe for men to avow opposition to the government. In the result the council banished Swinton's wife and those who acted with her from "the town of Edinburgh and the liberties thereof".
His daughter Jane Swinton married John Belsches, nephew of
Alexander Belsches, Lord Tofts.
Notes
References
* Endnotes:
**Campbell ''Swinton's Swintons of that Ilk and their Cadets''.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swinton, Alexander
1620s births
1700 deaths
Scottish legal professionals