Craigie Mason Aitchison (26 January 1882 – 2 May 1941) was a
Scottish politician and judge.
Early life
Mason was born on 16 January 1882 in
Falkirk
Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow.
Falkirk had a ...
, the second son of Elizabeth Mason Craigie and Revd James Aitchison,
senior minister of the Erskine
United Free Church
The United Free Church of Scotland (UF Church; gd, An Eaglais Shaor Aonaichte, sco, The Unitit Free Kirk o Scotland) is a Scottish Presbyterian denomination formed in 1900 by the union of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland (or UP) and ...
.
He was educated at
Falkirk High School
Falkirk High School is a high school located in Falkirk, Stirlingshire that was founded in 1886.
It is a non-denominational six-year fully comprehensive school, situated approximately one mile from the centre of the town. It serves a widespr ...
and 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 ...
where he was the Vans Dunlop Scholar in Mental Philosophy and Muirhead Prizeman in Civil Law.
He graduated with an
MA in 1903 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 China, People's Republic ...
in 1907.
Career
Aitchison became an
advocate
An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...
in 1907.
He was particularly effective as a defence counsel in criminal cases, and was regarded as the best advocate before a jury since Sheriff Comrie Thomson.
He was noted for the Bickerstaff and John Donald Merritt cases.
He was made 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 ...
in 1923.
He worked with
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for '' A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...
and others to secure the release of
Oscar Slater
Oscar Joseph Slater (8 January 1872 – 31 January 1948) was the victim of a miscarriage of justice in Scotland. Wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to death, he was freed after almost two decades of hard labour at Scotland’s HM Prison ...
, the victim one of the most notorious miscarriages of justice of the early 20th century. Aitchison who was leading Counsel at the appeal in 1929 gave a 14-hour speech.
Politics and law officer
An unsuccessful
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
candidate for
Clackmannan and East Stirlingshire in
November 1922 and
December 1923, he joined the
Labour Party and contested
The Hartlepools
The Hartlepools was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. The constituency became Hartlepool in 1974. The seat's name reflected the representation of both old Hartlepool and West Hartlepool.
Hist ...
at the
October 1924 general election and
Glasgow Central in
May 1929 — where he reduced a Unionist majority of nearly 6,000 to only 627.
He was elected as
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP) for
Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...
at a
by-election in October 1929, and sat for the constituency until
October 1933 as a
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
then
National Labour member.
[Craig, p. 616]
He was appointed as
Lord Advocate
, body =
, insignia = Crest of the Kingdom of Scotland.svg
, insigniasize = 110px
, image = File:Official Portrait of Dorothy Bain QC.png
, incumbent = Dorothy Bain KC
, incumbentsince = 22 June 2021
, appointer = Monarch on the advice ...
in June 1929
serving in the
Second Labour Government
The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds eac ...
alongside
Sir William Jowitt, the new
Attorney General for England and Wales
His Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales is one of the law officers of the Crown and the principal legal adviser to sovereign and Government in affairs pertaining to England and Wales. The attorney general maintains the Attorney ...
whose defeat at The Hartlepools in 1924 was attributed to Aitchison's drawing votes to the Liberals.
He was made a
Privy Counsellor
The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a privy council, formal body of advisers to the British monarchy, sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises Politics of the United King ...
in 1929,
and served as Lord Advocate until October 1933. He was then raised to the bench as
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 ...
,
with the judicial title Lord Aitchison, at which point he automatically resigned his seat in the House of Commons, which resulted in a
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
.
Personal life
In 1919, he married Charlotte Mary Forbes Jones (''d''. 1970), daughter of James Jones of Torwood Hall, Larbert. They had two sons, one of whom,
John Ronald Craigie Aitchison (1926–2009) was a noted
painter
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
and a member of the
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...
.
Sources
*
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aitchison, Craigie Mason
1882 births
1941 deaths
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies
Scottish Liberal Party parliamentary candidates
Scottish Labour MPs
Lord Advocates
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
20th-century King's Counsel
Senators of the College of Justice
Scottish King's Counsel
UK MPs 1929–1931
UK MPs 1931–1935
National Labour (UK) politicians
People educated at Falkirk High School