Sir Christopher Nicholson Johnston, Lord Sands

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(18 October 1857 – 26 February 1934) was a Unionist Party (Scotland) MP for Edinburgh and St Andrews universities between two by-elections in 1916 and 1917. He was an expert on Church Law and represented the Church of Scotland on many occasions.

Life

The grave of Christopher Nicholson Johnston, Dean Cemetery

He was born on 18 October 1857 in

Kincardine Kincardine may refer to: Places Scotland *Kincardine, Fife, a town on the River Forth, Scotland **Kincardine Bridge, a bridge which spans the Firth of Forth *Kincardineshire, a historic county **Kincardine, Aberdeenshire, now abandoned **Kincardi ...

, the son of Margaret Nicholson, daughter of Reverend Nicholson of Whithorn, and James Johnston of Mansionhouse of Sands (in

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

). He studied law at

Madras College Madras College, often referred to as Madras, is a Scottish comprehensive secondary school located in St Andrews, Fife. It educates over 1,400 pupils aged between 11 and 18 and was founded in 1833 by the Rev. Dr Andrew Bell. History Madras ...

, University of St Andrews, the University of Edinburgh and Heidelberg. After training as a lawyer he made rapid progress in the profession: Advocate (1880); Advocate Depute (1892); Sheriff of Caithness, Orkney & Zetland (1899–1900); Sheriff of Inverness, Elgin & Nairn (1900–1905);

Sheriff of Perthshire Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

(1905–1916); Kings Counsel (10 June 1902). He was

Procurator to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The Procurator to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the principal legal advisor to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. The holder of the office is invariably a King's Counsel in Scotland. Day-to-day advice is given by th ...

(1907–1918). He became a judge in 1908. He served as an MP representing St Andrews and Edinburgh Universities 1916–17. In 1917 he was created a

Senator of the College of Justice The senators of the College of Justice are judges of the College of Justice, a set of legal institutions involved in the administration of justice in Scotland. There are three types of senator: Lords of Session (judges of the Court of Session); ...

(a Scottish law lord) and given the title Lord Sands. From 1919 he was President of the Scottish Boys' Brigade. From 1921 he chaired the Carnegie Trust for University Education. He was awarded several honorary doctorates by the Scottish Universities including being created a

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

by the University of Edinburgh. In 1925 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were Sir James Alfred Ewing, Sir Edmund Whittaker, Sir Edward Albert Sharpey-Schafer, and Sir Thomas Hudson Beare. He served as the society's vice-president 1932–4. He died in Edinburgh on 26 February 1934 aged 76. He is buried in the modern extension to

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and on ...

off Queensferry Road in western Edinburgh. The grave lies against the north wall in the modern equivalent of ''Lord's Row'' in the original cemetery, forming one off a group of law lords buried together. His wife lies with him.

Family

In 1898 he married Agnes ("Nancy") Warren Dunn (1868–1955) of Dunmullin. They had two daughters and two sons, including James Wellwood Johnston and Alice Crawford Johnston CBE. They lived at 4 Heriot Row in

Edinburgh's New Town The New Town is a central area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It was built in stages between 1767 and around 1850, and retains much of its original neo-classical and Georgian period architecture. Its best known street is Princes Street ...

.Edinburgh and Leith Post Office directory 1900–01

Publications

*''The Ecclesiastical Law of Scotland'' *''Episcopacy in Scotland'' (1879) *''The Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act'' (1883) *''The Crofters Holdings (Scotland) Act '' (1886) *''The Handbook of Scottish Church Defence'' (1892) *''Church Finance'' (1905) *''Major Owen and Other Tales'' (1909) *''The Seven Churches of Asia'' (1916) *''John Blaw of Castlehill: Jacobite and Criminal'' (1916) *''Dr Archibald Scott of St Georges, Edinburgh'' (1919) *''Off the Chain'' (1924) short stories *''The Story of St Stephens, Edinburgh 1828–1928'' (1927) *''The Life of

Wallace Williamson Andrew Wallace Williamson KCVO, (29 December 1856 – 10 July 1926) was a Church of Scotland minister who was Dean of the Thistle. He was Moderator of the General Assembly in 1913. Life He was born in Thornhill in Dumfriesshire on 29 Decembe ...

'' (1929) *''Sir Walter Scott's Conge'' (1929) *''Kinlochmoidart's Dirk and Other Tales'' (1931)

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Christopher Nicholson 1857 births 1934 deaths Sands Unionist Party (Scotland) MPs Scottish sheriffs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities UK MPs 1910–1918 People educated at Madras College Burials at the Dean Cemetery