James Fergusson (1769–1842) was a Scottish judge and legal writer.

Biography

Fergusson was born in 1769. He was the eldest son of James Fergusson (1735–1816) of Bank, (afterwards of Monkwood,

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

) and Margaret Hutchison (1746–1821). He studied 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 ...

, becoming a member of the

Speculative Society The Speculative Society is a Scottish Enlightenment society dedicated to public speaking and literary composition, founded in 1764. It was mainly, but not exclusively, an Edinburgh University student organisation. The formal purpose of the Societ ...

on 9 December 1788, and was admitted member of the

Faculty of Advocates The Faculty of Advocates is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary. The Faculty of Advocates is a constit ...

1791. Fergusson was appointed an advocate-depute in 1809. Two years later on 4 March 1811 he appointed one of the four judges of the Consistorial Court. He held that office for a quarter of a century until, on 5 June 1826, he was appointed one of the principal clerks of session and four years later he added the post of keeper of the general record of entails for Scotland. He sold the estate of Monkwood to his brother, John H. Fergusson of Trochraigue. He died at home, 40 Heriot Row, Edinburgh, on 3 May 1842, and was buried seven days later at the new church, Greyfriars, Edinburgh.

Bibliography

Fergusson wrote: # ''Letters upon the Establishment of the Volunteer Corps and Domestic Military Arrangement of Great Britain'', Edinburgh, 1806. # ''Observations upon the proposed Reform in the Administration of Civil Justice in Scotland'', Edinburgh, 1807 (regarding the introduction of trial by jury). # ''Reports of some recent Decisions by the Consistorial Courts of Scotland in Actions of Divorce'', Edinburgh, 1817. These decisions illustrated the power of the Scottish court to dissolve marriage for adultery, which power the English court did not then possess, and the ''alarming collision between the respective jurisdictions of the two countries in the same island and state' which had arisen therefrom. # ''Observations upon the Provisions of the Bill presented to Parliament relative to the trial in a separate tribunal of issues of fact arising in actions instituted before the Supreme Civil Court of Scotland'', Edinburgh, 1824. # ''A Treatise on the present state of the Consistorial Law in Scotland, with reports of decided cases'', Edinburgh, 1829. # ''Observations on Entails and Entries of Heir-Apparent, '' cum beneficio inventarii'', with an index of the registers of

tailzie In Scots law, tailzie () is a feudal concept of the inheritance of immovable property according to an arbitrary course that has been laid out, such as in a document known as a "deed of tailzie". It was codified by the Entail Act 1685. Tailzie i ...

s from AD 1685 to 1830'', Edinburgh, 1830. # ''Additional Observations on Entails'', Edinburgh, 1831. His writings detailing his interest in the differences between the possibility of divorce under Scottish law but not under

English law English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law, each branch having its own courts and procedures. Principal elements of English law Although the common law has, historically, be ...

, ''Reports of some recent Decisions...'' (1817) and ''A treatise on the present state ...'' (1830), exerted a considerable influence on the

American Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...

judge and legal scholar

Joseph Story Joseph Story (September 18, 1779 – September 10, 1845) was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving from 1812 to 1845. He is most remembered for his opinions in ''Martin v. Hunter's Lessee'' and ''United States ...

. Story wrote, and published in 1834, the first major treatise in English written on this topic called ''Commentaries on the Conflict of Laws''.

Family

On 1 November 1806, Fergusson married Mary (d. 1845), daughter of

John Home of Bassendean John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

. They had two daughters.

Notes

References

* ;Attribution * Endnotes: **Paterson's ''Hist. of the County of Ayr, volume ii. part iv. page 371 (Edinburgh, 1852) **Hist. of the Speculative Society, page 187 (Edinburgh, 1845) **Anderson's Scottish Nation, ii. 196 **Catalogue of Advocates' Library **British Museum Catalogue {{DEFAULTSORT:Fergusson, James 1769 births 1842 deaths Scottish legal writers 18th-century Scottish lawyers 19th-century Scottish judges Alumni of the University of Edinburgh People of the Scottish Enlightenment Members of the Faculty of Advocates Burials at Greyfriars Kirkyard Principal Clerks of Session and Justiciary 19th-century British civil servants 18th-century Scottish writers 19th-century Scottish writers