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) The Unionist Party was the main centre-right political party in Scotland between 1912 and 1965. Independent of, although associated with, the Conservative Party in England and Wales, it stood for election at different periods of its history i ...

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 The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

on many occasions.

Life

The grave of Christopher Nicholson Johnston, Dean Cemetery

He was born on 18 October 1857 in Kincardine, the son of Margaret Nicholson, daughter of Reverend Nicholson of

Whithorn Whithorn ( �ʍɪthorn 'HWIT-horn'; ''Taigh Mhàrtainn'' in Gaelic), is a royal burgh in the historic county of Wigtownshire in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, about south of Wigtown. The town was the location of the first recorded Christian ...

, 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 (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

, the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

and

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

. 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 (1905–1916); Kings Counsel (10 June 1902). He was Procurator to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (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 (a Scottish law lord) and given the title Lord Sands. From 1919 he was President of the Scottish

Boys' Brigade The Boys' Brigade (BB) is an international interdenominational Christian youth organisation, conceived by the Scottish businessman Sir William Alexander Smith to combine drill and fun activities with Christian values. Following its inception ...

. 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

. 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 Edmund Taylor Whittaker (24 October 1873 – 24 March 1956) was a British mathematician, physicist, and historian of science. Whittaker was a leading mathematical scholar of the early 20th-century who contributed widely to applied mathema ...

, 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 James Wellwood Johnston (5 April 1900 – 18 September 1958) was a British lawyer and politician. The elder son of Christopher Johnston, Lord Sands, he was educated at Rugby School and New College, Oxford. He was called to the Scottish bar in 192 ...

and Alice Crawford Johnston CBE. They lived at 4

Heriot Row Heriot Row is a highly prestigious street in central Edinburgh, virtually unchanged since its original construction in 1802. From its inception to the present day in remained a top address in the city and has housed the rich and famous of the cit ...

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 Stree ...

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

References

External links

*
mention
{{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