James Veitch, Lord Elliock

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 Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(25 September 1712 – 1 July 1793) was a Scottish advocate, judge, politician and landowner who became a

Senator of the College of Justice The senators of the College of Justice in Scotland are judges of the College of Justice, a set of legal institutions involved in the administration of justice in Scotland. There are three types of senator: Lords of Session (judges of the Court ...

Life

He was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in September 1712, the son of Christian Thomson, daughter of Gavin Thomson, Provost of

Peebles Peebles () is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in ...

, and William Veitch of Elliock House near

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...

, 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 documen ...

(WS) who died in 1747. Veitch studied law at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, Leyden University and Halle University. While in Germany he met and apparently befriended

Frederick the Great Frederick II (; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was the monarch of Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786. He was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled ''King in Prussia'', declaring himself ''King of Prussia'' after annexing Royal Prussia ...

. He passed the Scottish bar as an advocate and was elected to 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 const ...

in 1738.An Historical Account of the Senators of the College of Justice: Brunton, Haig and Lockhart He was appointed Sheriff-Depute of Peebles in 1747. He served as MP for

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the hi ...

from 1755 to 1760. In 1761 he was elected a

in the place of Andrew Macdowal, Lord Bankton. In Novemberv 1763 he is noted as living in the Jock's Lodge area of Edinburgh and was the first point of contact after the post-boy was mugged and robbed of his horse and mailbags. He was Commissioner for Forfeited Estates in 1769, as Deputy Governor of the

Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland Public Limited Company () is a major retail banking, retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest and Ulster Bank. The Royal Bank of Sco ...

(1776–), and as a member of the Board of Trustees for Manufactures & Fisheries (1777–). In 1775 he is listed as living at Jock's Lodge to the east of Edinburgh. He moved to St Andrew Square in the 1780s, as soon as the houses were built. In 1783 he was a founding Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) 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 establis ...

. He died at

St Andrew Square, Edinburgh St Andrew Square is a garden square in Edinburgh, Scotland located at the east end of George Street, Edinburgh, George Street. The construct of St Andrew Square began in 1772,Lang, p.124 as the first part of the New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, ...

, on 1 July 1793. His position as Senator was filled by William Baillie, Lord Polkemmet. He was buried in

Restalrig Restalrig ( ) is a small residential suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland (historically, an estate and independent parish). It is located east of the city centre, west of Craigentinny and to the east of Lochend, Edinburgh, Lochend, both of which it ...

Churchyard in eastern Edinburgh on 5 July.

Family

His children included Mary Veitch (1752-1776)

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Veitch, James 1712 births 1793 deaths Lawyers from Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Leiden University alumni University of Halle alumni Members of the Faculty of Advocates Elliock Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies Politics of Dumfries and Galloway Scottish bankers Scottish civil servants 18th-century Scottish landowners Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh British MPs 1754–1761 Scottish sheriffs 18th-century Scottish businesspeople