Ian MacDonald Robertson (30 October 1912 – 21 July 2005) was a Scottish

High Court of Justiciary The High Court of Justiciary is the supreme criminal court in Scotland. The High Court is both a trial court and a court of appeal. As a trial court, the High Court sits on circuit at Parliament House or in the adjacent former Sheriff Cour ...

judge who contributed greatly to Scots law.

Early life

Robertson was born on 30 October 1912 in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

, the youngest of the six children of Margaret Eva Wilson and James Robertson. His father was 66 when he was born. He was educated at

Merchiston Castle School Merchiston Castle School is an independent boarding school for boys in the suburb of Colinton in Edinburgh, Scotland. It has around 470 pupils and is open to boys between the ages of 7 and 18 as either boarding or day pupils; it was modelled ...

between 1926 and 1931 and had an outstanding school career, being appointed a Senior Prefect in his final year. He was also a notable sportsman, captaining the 1st XV

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

side, and playing for the 1st XI

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

team. He then attended Balliol College, Oxford, following in the footsteps of his older brother

Sir James Robertson Sir James Wilson Robertson, (27 October 189923 September 1983) was a British civil servant who served as the last colonial governor-general of Nigeria from 1955 to 1960. Early life and education He was educated at Merchiston Castle School ...

. Returning to Scotland he graduated

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 People's Republic of Chi ...

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 1937, and served his apprenticeship as a

Writer to the Signet The Society of Writers to His Majesty's Signet is a private society of Scottish solicitors, dating back to 1594 and part of the College of Justice. Writers to the Signet originally had special privileges in relation to the drawing up of document ...

with Shepherd and Wedderburn, but soon found his preferred field as an advocate. He regarded his life as having been transformed by meeting Anna Glen, daughter of Judge James Fulton Glen, of Tampa,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, at her 21st birthday party at the Gleneagles Hotel. They married and had one son and two daughters, sharing 63 years together before she died in 2002. When

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

broke out Robertson joined the 8th Battalion

The Royal Scots The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), once known as the Royal Regiment of Foot, was the oldest and most senior infantry regiment of the line of the British Army, having been raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I of Scotland. The regimen ...

, serving first as a weapons instructor. He was later commissioned and as captain and intelligence officer for the 44th Lowland Brigade (15th Scottish Division), he distinguished himself in Normandy and NW Europe and the campaign from D-Day to the end of the war, being mentioned in dispatches. He wrote an account of the action, "From Normandy to the Baltic", printed in Germany before he returned to Britain.

Career

His career as an advocate was soon established. He

took silk 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 a ...

in 1954, later serving as Sheriff Principal of Ayr and Bute (1961–1966) and then of Perth and Angus (1966). In 1966 he was appointed to the High Court bench. His friend

James Mackay, Baron Mackay of Clashfern James Peter Hymers Mackay, Baron Mackay of Clashfern, (born 2 July 1927) is a British advocate. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, Lord Advocate, and Lord Chancellor (1987–1997). He is a former active member of the House of L ...

said: "He was a meticulous, courteous and diligent judge and a great believer in the reputation of Scots Law. He was sensitive to any interference by the

Executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

in the work of the Courts."

Notable cases

Robertson presided over the 1974 case of

Jessie McTavish Jessie Gordon, formerly McTavish, (born c.1940) is a Scotland, Scottish retired nurse who was convicted in 1974 of murdering a patient with insulin, and of administering a variety of substances Grievous bodily harm, with intent to cause harm. The ...

, a Glasgow nurse accused of the murder of one of her patients and the assault of four others. In summing up he neglected to mention her denial of a police claim that she had admitted to

mercy killing Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eutha ...

during an interview. McTavish was convicted but Robertson's omission was used as the basis for an appeal the following year and McTavish's sentence was overturned.

Further positions

Robertson was also chairman of the Scottish Joint Council for Teachers' Salaries (1965–1981); an assessor on University of Edinburgh Court (1967–1981); chairman of the Edinburgh Centre for Rural Economy (1967–1985); chairman of the Centre of Tropical Veterinary Medicine; and chairman of the Scottish Valuation Advisory Council (1977–1986). The first Scottish judge to be a member of the International Union of Judges, he served for 13 years (1974–1987). He was on the board of governors of

1954-2005 and was chairman 1970–1996. Robertson also received an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 1988 He played

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

into his eighties, particularly at

Muirfield Muirfield is a privately owned golf links which is the home of The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. Located in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland, overlooking the Firth of Forth, Muirfield is one of the golf courses used in rotation for The ...

where he was captain from 1970 to 1972. He died on 21 July 2005 at the age of 92.

Family

His brother was

James Wilson Robertson Sir James Wilson Robertson, (27 October 189923 September 1983) was a British civil servant who served as the last colonial governor-general of Nigeria from 1955 to 1960. Early life and education He was educated at Merchiston Castle Schoo ...

, the last British Governor-General of Nigeria, while his daughter Sally married businessman Nick Kuennsberg. His grandchildren include

Laura Kuenssberg Laura Juliet Kuenssberg (born 8 August 1976) is a British journalist who currently presents the BBC's flagship Sunday morning politics show. She succeeded Nick Robinson as political editor of BBC News in July 2015, and was the first woman to ...

, the BBC political editor from 2015 to 2022, David Kuenssberg who is executive director of finance and resources at Brighton and Hove City Council, and Joanna Kuenssberg, who is a diplomat and served as the British High Commissioner to Mozambique from 2014 until 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Ian 1912 births 2005 deaths Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British Army personnel of World War II People educated at Merchiston Castle School Royal Scots officers Senators of the College of Justice Members of the Faculty of Advocates Lawyers from Edinburgh Scottish solicitors Scottish King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel