Sir David Barnett Dundas, 2nd Baronet, (28 August 1803 – 30 March 1877) was a Scottish advocate, Liberal politician and agricultural improver.

Life

He was the son of Robert Dundas of Beechwood, 1st Baronet Dundas (1761–1835) and Matilda Cockburn (daughter of Archibald Cockburn). He was born at the family mansion of Beechwood House near Corstorphine, west Edinburgh on 28 August 1803. In 1824, he acquired Henry Dundas's estate of Dunira in

Perthshire Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...

. On his father's death in 1835, David became the 2nd Baronet. Dundas was educated at Westminster School and at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

. He was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

at the Inner Temple in 1824, and appointed Queen's Counsel in February 1840. He was elected to represent

Sutherland Sutherland ( gd, Cataibh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire (later ...

in Parliament as a Liberal in March 1840. In July 1846 he was appointed Solicitor General for England and Wales. At the time, it was the normal practice that accepting ministerial office caused a by-election; he was re-elected on 28 July. In February 1846, he was knighted, a traditional perquisite of the office, but he resigned the position in March 1848 due to ill-health and returned to the backbenches. In May 1849, he was appointed Judge Advocate General, again re-elected in a by-election on 5 June, and made a member of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

on 29 June. In 1851, 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 proposer being John Cockburn, the wine merchant who founded Cockburns of Leith. In 1852, he commissioned the architect William Burn to completely remodel the mansion at Dunira and lived there until the late 1860s. He retired from politics in the 1852 general election, and was succeeded by the Marquess of Stafford, also a Liberal. In retirement he lived and worked in his chambers at the Inner Temple; among other work, he served as a Trustee of the British Museum. His retirement from politics was not permanent; when Stafford was elevated to the House of Lords in March 1861 on becoming the third Duke of Sutherland, Dundas returned to Parliament. He stood down again in May 1867, being succeeded by Lord Ronald Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, the Duke's younger brother. He died on 30 March 1877.

Family

He married twice: firstly on 29 November 1841 to Catherine Whyte-Melville (d. 23 April 1856), sister of writer George John Whyte-Melville; secondly in 1858 to Lady Lucy Anne Pelham (1815–1901), daughter of Thomas Pelham, 2nd Earl of Chichester. Lucy was a gifted amateur artist. He had seven children by his first marriage: *Georgina Catherine Dundas (1843–1859) *Robert Dundas (1844–1865), who died unmarried *David Pelham Dundas (1845–1856), who died in childhood *

Sir Sydenham James Dundas, 3rd Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

(1849–1904), who died unmarried *

Sir Charles Henry Dundas, 4th Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

(1851–1908), who died unmarried *

Sir George Whyte Melville Dundas, 5th Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

(1856–1934), who married Matilda Louisa Mary Wilson, and had children *Lady Jane Dundas (died 1929), who married Reverend Francis Agnew Bickmore and had children Dundas's second marriage produced a son. Sydenham Jaspar Dundas (1859–1909).

Publications

*''On the Potato Disease – Crop 1845'' (1846)

References

*''Oliver & Boyd's new Edinburgh almanac and national repository for the year 1850''. Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh, 1850 *Gordon Goodwin, "Dundas, Sir David (1799–1877)", rev. H. C. G. Matthew, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 11 July 2006
* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dundas, David, 2nd Baronet 1803 births 1877 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at Westminster School, London Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Scottish Liberal Party MPs UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1865–1868 Whig (British political party) MPs for Scottish constituencies Members of the Inner Temple Knights Bachelor Solicitors General for England and Wales English King's Counsel Scottish King's Counsel 19th-century King's Counsel