Andrew Dewar Gibb MBE QC (13 February 1888 – 24 January 1974) was a Scottish advocate, barrister, professor and politician. He taught law at

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

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

, and was Regius Professor of Law at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

1934–1958.
Ewen A. Cameron, 'Gibb, Andrew Dewar (1888–1974)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Oct 2009; online edn, Sept 2010 Gibb was the leader of the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

(SNP) from 1936 to 1940.

Early life and career

Born in Paisley, the son of William Fletcher Gibb, a doctor, Gibb was educated at

Paisley Grammar School Paisley Grammar School is a secondary school in Paisley, the largest town in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The school was founded in 1576 by royal charter of King James VI and is situated on Glasgow Road. The school is recognised as one of Scotland's ...

, Homefield Preparatory School,

Trinity College, Glenalmond Glenalmond College is a co-educational independent boarding school in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, for children aged between 12 and 18 years. It is situated on the River Almond near the village of Methven, about west of the city of Perth. ...

, and the University of Glasgow, where he graduated with an MA in 1910 and an

LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

in 1913. Following graduation, Gibb was called to the

Scottish bar The Faculty of Advocates is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary. The Faculty of Advocates is a constit ...

in 1914. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

he served in France with the 6th

Battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

of the Royal Scots Fusiliers, achieving the rank of major. He also served as an

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

to Winston Churchill during the short period in 1916 when Churchill was the battalion's commanding officer. Gibb became a member of the

English bar Barristers in England and Wales are one of the two main categories of lawyer in England and Wales, the other being solicitors. Barristers have traditionally had the role of handling cases for representation in court, both defence and prosecut ...

in 1917 and practised as a barrister in England. In 1929 he was appointed as lecturer in English law at the University of Edinburgh, and from 1931 to 1934 he was lecturer in

Scots law Scots law () is the legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. Together with English law and Northern Ireland ...

at the University of Cambridge. In 1934, Gibb was appointed Regius Professor of Law at the University of Glasgow, and from 1937 to 1939 and 1945 to 1947 was Dean of the University's Law Faculty.The University of Glasgow Story: Andrew Dewar Gibb

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

As a legal scholar he edited a range of works, including successive editions of a text on the law of maritime collisions, and on the position of Scots law in the United Kingdom. His ''Students' Glossary of Legal Terms'' was published in 1946, and four editions of his ''Preface to Scots Law'' were published between 1944 and 1964. In 1947, he became a

King's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

, and from 1955 to 1957 he was the Chairman of the

Saltire Society The Saltire Society is a membership organisation which aims to promote the understanding of the culture and heritage of Scotland. Founded in 1936, the society was "set up to promote and celebrate the uniqueness of Scottish culture and Scotland’s ...

. Gibb retired from his professorship in 1958, and was awarded an

honorary An honorary position is one given as an honor, with no duties attached, and without payment. Other uses include: * Honorary Academy Award, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, United States * Honorary Aryan, a status in Nazi Germany ...

Doctor of law A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor ( ...

s degree by the university the following year.

Political career

Andrew Dewar Gibb was politically active throughout his adult life. He began his political career in the 1920s as a supporter of the Unionist Party, and stood unsuccessfully as a Unionist parliamentary candidate for Hamilton in

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China h ...

, and for

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of ...

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholi ...

. During the 1920s, Gibb came to the view that Scotland had been ill-served by the

union of 1707 The Acts of Union ( gd, Achd an Aonaidh) were two Acts of Parliament: the Union with Scotland Act 1706 passed by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act 1707 passed by the Parliament of Scotland. They put into effect the ...

. His book ''Scotland in Eclipse'' (1930) linked the economic depression with a wider cultural malaise in Scotland. In particular, he believed that Scotland's status as a partner in the imperial mission had been compromised by her lowly status in the United Kingdom. While he moved towards a

Scottish nationalist Scottish nationalism promotes the idea that the Scottish people form a cohesive nation and national identity. Scottish nationalism began to shape from 1853 with the National Association for the Vindication of Scottish Rights, progressing into t ...

position, he also retained a right-wing world view, and imperial questions remained prominent in his writings. Gibb's involvement in Scottish nationalism came initially as a member of the

Scottish Party The Scottish (Self-Government) Party was a Scottish nationalist political party formed in 1932 by a group of members of the Unionist Party who favoured the establishment of a Dominion Scottish Parliament within the British Empire. The Scottish ...

, which had been founded as a counterbalance to the left-wing

National Party of Scotland The National Party of Scotland (NPS) was a centre-left political party in Scotland which was one of the predecessors of the current Scottish National Party (SNP). The NPS was the first Scottish nationalist political party, and the first which c ...

. In 1934, he became a founder member of the

(SNP), and was the second leader of the SNP, serving from 1936 until 1940. Gibb stood as an independent for the

Combined Scottish Universities The Combined Scottish Universities was a three-member university constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until 1950. It was created by merging the single-member constituencies of Glasgow and Abe ...

constituency in the 1935 general election, and as an SNP parliamentary candidate in the

1936 Combined Scottish Universities by-election The 1936 Combined Scottish Universities by-election was a by-election held from 27 to 31 January 1936 for the Combined Scottish Universities, a university constituency of the British House of Commons. Vacancy The seat had become vacant when the ...

, taking 31.1% of the vote and second place in the poll. However, he was less successful at the 1938 by-election, his share falling to 18.2%. Gibb resigned as leader of the SNP in 1940, due to what he regarded as its rapid lurch to the left. By 1947 he was considering returning to the Unionist Party, and possibly running for Parliament once more under their banner.

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS) ( gd, Leabharlann Nàiseanta na h-Alba, sco, Naitional Leebrar o Scotland) is the legal deposit library of Scotland and is one of the country's National Collections. As one of the largest libraries in th ...

. Acc. 10090, Papers of Dr

Robert Douglas McIntyre Robert Douglas McIntyre (15 December 1913 – 2 February 1998) was a Scottish physician and a Scottish National Party politician and Member of Parliament. McIntyre studied Medicine at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Glasgo ...

, MB ChB, DPH, Duniv, JP. File 15: Correspondence and papers of or concerning Douglas Young. 11 December 1947 letter from Young to McIntyre. Accessed 16 July 2015. Gibb died at his home in Glasgow in 1974, aged 85. Married to Margaret Isabel Downie in 1923, the couple had a son and two daughters.

Publications

*''With Winston Churchill at the Front'', 1924 *''Sale of Goods on CIF and FOB Terms: A Guide to the Decisions'', 1924 *''The International Law of Jurisdiction in Scotland and England'', 1926 *''International Private Law of Scotland in the 16th and 17th Centuries'', 1928 *''Scotland in Eclipse'', 1930A controversial quote from the book which has received a wide audience expresses animosity to Irish immigrants in Scotland. "Wheresoever knives and razors are used, wheresoever sneak thefts and petty pilfering are easy and safe, wheresoever dirty acts of sexual baseness are committed, there you will find the Irishman in Scotland with all but a monopoly." See Alex Massie (2009) Spectator ; David Moody (1988, p. 75) Scottish Family Histor

Margery Palmer McCulloch (2009, p. 99) Scottish Modernism and Its Contexts 1918–1959: Literature, National Identity and Cultural Exchang

Massie describes Dewar Gibb's expressed view as bigoted and racist. Richard J Finlay indicates Dewar was anti-Roman Catholic and thought the Irish Diaspora were racially inferio

/ref> *''The Trial of Motor Car Accident Cases'', 1930 *''Select Cases in the Law of Scotland'', 1933 *''Scottish Empire'', 1937 *''A Preface to Scots Law'', 1944 *''Student's Glossary of Legal Terms'', 1946 *''Law from over the Border: A Short Account of a Strange Jurisdiction'', 1950 *''Scotland Resurgent'', 1950 *''Perjury Unlimited: A Monograph on Nuremberg'', 1954 *''Fragmenta Legis'', 1955 *''Judicial Corruption in the United Kingdom'', 1957

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibb, Andrew Dewar 1888 births 1974 deaths Leaders of the Scottish National Party Academics of the University of Cambridge Academics of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Glasgow Alumni of the University of Glasgow British barristers People educated at Glenalmond College People from Paisley, Renfrewshire Scottish legal scholars Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Unionist Party (Scotland) politicians Scottish National Party parliamentary candidates Scottish King's Counsel