John Cowan, Lord Cowan (1798–1878) was a Scottish judge who rose to be a

Senator of the College of Justice The senators of the College of Justice 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 of Session); ...

Life

He was born on 6 July 1798. He is thought to be the son of Richard Cowan WS an Edinburgh lawyer working at Drummond Place in the 1820s. He qualified as an advocate around 1825. In 1830 he is operating as an advocate from 30 Drummond Place (possibly his father's office) and from 1840 at 2 North Charlotte Street off

Charlotte Square 300px, Robert Adam's palace-fronted north side Charlotte Square is a garden square in Edinburgh, Scotland, part of the New Town, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The square is located at the west end of George Street and was intended ...

in Edinburgh. He was created a Senator in 1851. At this stage he lived at 4 Ainslie Place on the prestigious Moray Estate in western Edinburgh. In later life he lived at Elmbank on Whitehouse Loan in south Edinburgh. He died in Edinburgh on 1 August 1878 aged 80. He is buried with his family in "Lords Row" on the western wall of

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and on ...

Family

He was married to Annabella McCartney (1806–1858). They had several daughters.

Artistic Recognition

His early calotype photograph (around 1845) by the pioneer photographers Hill & Adamson is held by the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

References

1798 births 1878 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Senators of the College of Justice Burials at the Dean Cemetery 19th-century Scottish judges {{Scotland-law-bio-stub