James Veitch, Lord Elliock FRSE (25 September 1712 – 1 July 1793) was a Scottish advocate, judge, politician and landowner who became a Senator of the College of Justice.

Life

He was born 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 ...

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

Peebles Peebles ( gd, Na Pùballan) is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in June 2018 wa ...

, and William Veitch of Elliock House near Dumfries, 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 ...

(WS) who died in 1747. Veitch 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 ...

Leyden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...

and

Halle University Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...

. While in Germany he met and apparently befriended

Frederick the Great Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the S ...

. 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 constit ...

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 (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county. I ...

from 1755 to 1760. In 1761 he was elected a Senator of the College of Justice in the place of Andrew Macdowal, Lord Bankton. In Novemberv 1763 he is noted as living in the

Jock's Lodge Jock's Lodge is an area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It centres on the junction of London Road and Willowbrae Road (part of the A1 trunk route to London), Portobello Road and Restalrig Road South (Smokey Brae) and is an alternative name for the M ...

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 (1776–), and as a member of the Board of Trustees for Manufactures & Fisheries (1777–). In 1775 he is listed as living at

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. 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. The gardens, part of the collection of New Town Gardens, are owned by a number of private owners, managed by Essential Edinburgh and opened t ...

, 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, both of which it overlaps. Restalri ...

Churchyard in eastern Edinburgh on 5 July.

Family

His children included Mary Veitch (1752-1776)

References

* 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 {{Scotland-GreatBritain-MP-stub