Duncan Davidson of Tulloch

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 ...

(1800 – 18 September 1881) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

landowner, soldier and politician.

Life

He was the first son of Caroline Elizabeth Diffel and Henry Davidson of Tulloch, DL (1771–1827). He was grandson of Duncan Davidson (1733–1799), and succeeded to his father's Scottish estates, including

Tulloch Castle Tulloch Castle is located in the town of Dingwall in the Highlands of Scotland. It dates at least to the late 14th century as the birthplace of Mariota Leslie, daughter of Euphemia I, countess of Ross. Mariota was the wife of Donald Macdonald, Lo ...

. He was educated at Harrow then studied law at 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 ...

. In 1820 he worked as a lawyer in Lincoln's Inn in London. From then until at least 1823 he lived at the family's London home at 10

Cavendish Square Cavendish Square is a public garden square in Marylebone in the West End of London. It has a double-helix underground commercial car park. Its northern road forms ends of four streets: of Wigmore Street that runs to Portman Square in the much lar ...

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. In 1827 on his father's death, he inherited

, Inchicore near

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, stocks and shares in various canals and the Mount Gay sugar plantation in

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. He then became a soldier and served as a lieutenant in the

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

. He represented

Cromartyshire Cromartyshire ( gd, Siorrachd Chromba) is a historic county in the Highlands of Scotland, comprising the medieval "old shire" around the county town of Cromarty and 22 enclaves and exclaves transferred from Ross-shire in the late 17th century. ...

for two sessions in Parliament (1826-1830). Both terms being prior to the

Scottish Reform Act 1832 The Scottish Reform Act 1832 was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the election laws of Scotland. The act was passed at approximately the same time as the Reform Act 1832, which applied to England and Wales. The chief a ...

, he was elected by his own peers. In 1843 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 Sir George Steuart Mackenzie.https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf He later served as

Lord Lieutenant of Ross-shire This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Ross-shire. The office was replaced by the Lord Lieutenant of Ross and Cromarty in 1891 through the operation of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889. *Francis Mackenzie, 1st Baron ...

from 1879 to his death, in

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 ...

on 18 September 1881.

Family

He married five times: firstly in 1825 to Elizabeth Diana Macdonald (d.1839); secondly in 1841 to Eleanora Fergusson (d.1845); thirdly in 1846 to Arabella Ross (d.1847); fourth in 1849 to Mary Mackenzie (d.1867, his longest surviving wife); lastly in 1877 to Sarah Justine Taylor (who outlived him). He was succeeded in ownership of Tulloch Castle by his eldest son Duncan Henry Caithness Reay Davidson (1836–1889).

References

* David R. Fisher
DAVIDSON, Duncan (?1800-1881), of Tulloch Castle, Dingwall, Ross.
in ''

The History of Parliament The History of Parliament is a project to write a complete history of the United Kingdom Parliament and its predecessors, the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of England. The history will principally consist of a prosopography, in w ...

: the House of Commons 1820-1832'' (2009). 1881 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Members of Lincoln's Inn 19th Light Dragoons officers Grenadier Guards officers Coldstream Guards officers Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1831–1832 Year of birth unknown Year of birth uncertain People educated at Harrow School {{Scotland-UK-MP-stub