James Avon Clyde, Lord Clyde, (14 November 1863 – 16 June 1944) was a Scottish politician and judge.

Early life

Clyde was born on 14 November 1863, the son of Dr James Clyde LLD (1821-1912). His father was a teacher at

Dollar Academy Dollar Academy, founded in 1818 by John McNabb, is an independent co-educational day and boarding school in Scotland. The open campus occupies a site in the centre of Dollar, Clackmannanshire, at the foot of the Ochil Hills. Overview As of 20 ...

and then at

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is an independent day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in the city's New Town, is now part of the Senior School. The Junior School is located on Arboretum Ro ...

. He was educated at the

and 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 ...

, where he graduated with an MA 1884 and an LLB in 1888.

Career

Clyde was called to the Scots Bar in 1889, and by the times he was appointed a King's Counsel (KC) in August 1901, he was the leading junior counsel in Scotland. As a KC, he was retained by several railway companies and frequently appeared before the

Law Lords Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House of ...

. He was later

Dean of the Faculty of Advocates The Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, also known as the Dean of Faculty, is the head of the Faculty of Advocates, the independent body for advocates in Scotland. The Dean is elected by the whole membership. List of deans of Faculty * 1582 to ??? ...

from 1915 to 1918. He held office briefly as

Solicitor General for Scotland , body = , insignia = Crest of the Kingdom of Scotland.svg , insigniasize = 110px , image = File:Official Portrait of Ruth Charteris QC.png , incumbent = Ruth Charteris KC , incumbentsince = 22 June 2021 , department = Crown Office and ...

from October 1905 to December 1905. He was the unsuccessful

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

candidate for Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire in 1906. He was elected at a by-election in May 1909 as the

Liberal Unionist The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a politic ...

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 o ...

(MP) for Edinburgh West, and held the seat until 1918. He was Coalition Unionist member for Edinburgh North from 1918 to 1920. He was appointed a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of ei ...

in December 1916. He was also appointed to the

Dardanelles Commission The Dardanelles Commission was an investigation into the disastrous 1915 Dardanelles Campaign. It was set up under the Special Commissions (Dardanelles and Mesopotamia) Act 1916. The final report of the commission, issued in 1919, found major p ...

. He served as

Lord Advocate His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate ( gd, Morair Tagraidh, sco, Laird Advocat), is the chief legal officer of the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for both civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolved p ...

from December 1916 to 1920 in Lloyd George's coalition government. He was appointed to the bench and served as

Lord Justice General Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

and

Lord President of the Court of Session The Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General is the most senior judge in Scotland, the head of the judiciary, and the presiding judge of the College of Justice, the Court of Session, and the High Court of Justiciary. The L ...

from 1920 to 1935, with the judicial title Lord Clyde. During this time Lord Clyde gave this famous quote (in taxation circles) in the case of Ayrshire Pullman Motor Services v Inland Revenue

929 Year 929 ( CMXXIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * January 16 – Emir Abd-al-Rahman III of Córdoba proclaims himself caliph and create ...

14 Tax Case 754, at 763,764:

''"No man in the country is under the smallest obligation, moral or other, so to arrange his legal relations to his business or property as to enable the Inland Revenue to put the largest possible shovel in his stores. The Inland Revenue is not slow, and quite rightly, to take every advantage which is open to it under the Taxing Statutes for the purposes of depleting the taxpayer's pocket. And the taxpayer is in like manner entitled to be astute to prevent, so far as he honestly can, the depletion of his means by the Inland Revenue."''

He was a Deputy Lieutenant of Kinross-shire, and later became

Lord Lieutenant of Kinross-shire This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Kinross-shire: *George Graham 17 March 1794 – 18 December 1801 * William Adam 30 January 1802 – 17 February 1839 * Sir Charles Adam 28 March 1839 – 16 September 1853 ...

from 1937 until his death. He was Chairman of the Trustees of the National Library of Scotland from 1936 to 1944.

Personal life

In 1895 Clyde married Anna Margaret MacDiarmid. They had two sons; the older, James Latham Clyde, later also became Lord Advocate and Lord Justice General. Clyde died in Edinburgh on 16 June 1944.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clyde, James Avon 1863 births 1944 deaths Deputy Lieutenants of Kinross-shire Lord-Lieutenants of Kinross-shire Scottish King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

Lord Advocates Solicitors General for Scotland Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Liberal Unionist Party MPs for Scottish constituencies Unionist Party (Scotland) MPs UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 Lords President of the Court of Session Lords Justice-General Deans of the Faculty of Advocates Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Edinburgh constituencies People educated at Edinburgh Academy Alumni of the University of Edinburgh