The Honourable James Wedderburn FRSE (12 November 1782 – 7 November 1822) was a 19th-century Scottish judge who served 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 1816, dying in office aged 39. He is sometimes called James Wedderburn-Colville.

Life

He was born in

Inveresk Inveresk (Gaelic: ''Inbhir Easg'') is a village in East Lothian, Scotland situated to the south of Musselburgh. It has been designated a conservation area since 1969. It is situated on slightly elevated ground on the north bank of a loop o ...

House on 12 November 1782, the fourth son of Isabella Blackburn and James Wedderburn Colville of

Ochiltree Ochiltree is a conservation village in East Ayrshire, Scotland, near Auchinleck and Cumnock. It is one of the oldest villages in East Ayrshire, with archaeological remains indicating Stone Age and Bronze Age settlers. A cinerary urn was found in ...

House in Ayrshire. John Wedderburn of Ballindean, 6th Baronet of Blackness (1729–1803) was his father's elder brother. Both brothers spent decades buying and managing

sugar plantations in the Caribbean Sugar plantations in the Caribbean were a major part of the economy of the islands in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Most Caribbean islands were covered with sugar cane fields and mills for refining the crop. The main source of labor, unti ...

, re-establishing the family fortune following the execution and

attainder In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura was the metaphorical "stain" or "corruption of blood" which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one's life, property and hereditar ...

of their father the 5th baronet after the

Jacobite uprising of 1745 The Jacobite rising of 1745, also known as the Forty-five Rebellion or simply the '45 ( gd, Bliadhna Theàrlaich, , ), was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart (20 December 1720 ...

. James was educated at the grammar school in Musselburgh. His father died in 1802 and, not yet of age, he became wealthy. The following year he was admitted as an advocate at the Scottish bar. In 1804 he undertook further study at Lincoln's Inn in London the aim at the English bar. In 1810 Allan Maconochie, Lord Meadowbank appointed him Advocate Depute to Scotland. However he resigned in 1811 to take on the role of Sheriff 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 ...

. In 1814 he was living with his family at 126 George Street in

Edinburgh's New Town The New Town is a central area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It was built in stages between 1767 and around 1850, and retains much of its original neo-classical and Georgian period architecture. Its best known street is Princes Stree ...

. In July 1816 he was appointed

. In 1821 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposer was Sir William Arbuthnot. He lived his final years at 31 Heriot Row in Edinburgh. He died on 7 November 1822, aged 39, during a visit to his sister Lady Selkirk at St Mary's Isle in

Kirkcudbrightshire Kirkcudbrightshire ( ), or the County of Kirkcudbright or the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Kirkcudbrightshire was an administrative count ...

. He is buried there.

Family

He was brother to Andrew Colville. In December 1813 he married Isabella Clerk (1789–1865), sister of

Sir George Clerk, 6th Baronet Sir George Clerk of Pennycuik, 6th Baronet (19 November 1787 – 23 December 1867) was a Scottish politician who served as the Tory MP for Edinburghshire, Stamford and Dover. Background Clerk was the son of Cpt. James Clerk (d.1793), t ...

Penicuik Penicuik ( ; sco, Penicuik; gd, Peighinn na Cuthaig) is a town and former Police burgh, burgh in Midlothian, Scotland, lying on the west bank of the River Esk, Lothian, River North Esk. It lies on the A701 road, A701 midway between Edinburgh a ...

and John Clerk Maxwell of Middlebie (father of

James Clerk Maxwell James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish mathematician and scientist responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, which was the first theory to describe electricity, magnetism and li ...

). They had three daughters and four sons:The Wedderburn Book p.314 * James Wedderburn (1814–1863) * Janet Isabella (1815–1852) married James Hay McKenzie WS * George Wedderburn (1817–1865) * Jean (1818–1897) married Peter Blackburn of

Killearn Killearn (Scottish Gaelic: ''Cill Fhearann'', from orig. ''Ceann Fhearann'', "Head/End of (the) Land/Territory" – until the 15th century when ''Ceann'' was replaced by ''Cill''; denoting the presence of a house of worship) – is a smal ...

* John Wedderburn (1820–1879) * Andrew Wedderburn (1821–1896) * Jemima (1823-1909), a noted artist, married Prof Hugh Blackburn, Peter's brother

Artistic recognition

His wife Isabella was portrayed by

Sir Henry Raeburn Sir Henry Raeburn (; 4 March 1756 – 8 July 1823) was a Scottish portrait painter. He served as Portrait Painter to King George IV in Scotland. Biography Raeburn was born the son of a manufacturer in Stockbridge, on the Water of Leith: a ...

around the time of their marriage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wedderburn, James 1782 births 1822 deaths 19th-century Scottish judges Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh