John William Chesser SSC (6 September 1862 – 29 June 1921) was a 19th/20th century Scottish solicitor and Tory politician who served as

Lord Provost of Edinburgh The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Edinburgh is the convener of the City of Edinburgh local authority, who is elected by City_of_Edinburgh_Council, the city council and serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the e ...

from 1919 to 1921. The suburb of south-west

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

known as

Chesser Chesser ( ) is a mainly residential suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland, east of the Water of Leith. It, with Longstone, is to the south-west, Allan Park and Craiglockhart to the south, Slateford, Hutchison and Moat to the east, and Gorgie Road to the ...

was named after him.

Life

The grave of John Chesser, Cramond churchyard

He was born on 6 September 1862 at 19 Graham Street off Lauriston Place in Edinburgh the son of Ann Stennett and her husband, John Chesser. The large

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

house backed onto the Edinburgh Cattle Market. This relationship probably inspired his lifelong interest in

cattle market In economics, a market is a composition of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations or infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offeri ...

s. He was educated at

George Heriot's School George Heriot's School is a Scottish independent primary and secondary day school on Lauriston Place in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. In the early 21st century, it has more than 1600 pupils, 155 teaching staff, and 80 non-teaching staff ...

100m from his home. He 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 ...

. In 1890 he was living as a lawyer at 1 Chalmers Crescent. He rose to be a Solicitor of the Supreme Court (SSC) in 1895. In 1911 he was living at 14 North Park Terrace, a terraced house overlooking

Inverleith Inverleith (Scottish Gaelic: ''Inbhir Lìte'') is an inner suburb in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, on the fringes of the central region of the city. Its neighbours include Trinity to the north and the New Town to the south, with Canonmills a ...

playing fields, and had offices at 45 Frederick Street in the

New Town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

. In 1912 he was Convenor of the Edinburgh Markets and organised the building of the new

slaughterhouse A slaughterhouse, also called abattoir (), is a facility where animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a packaging facility. Slaughterhouses that produce meat that is no ...

s, markets and

corn exchange A corn exchange is a building where merchants trade grains. The word "corn" in British English denotes all cereal grains, such as wheat and barley; in the United States these buildings were called grain exchange. Such trade was common in towns ...

in south-west Edinburgh. In 1919 he was elected Lord Provost in succession to John Lorne MacLeod. He died in office on 29 June 1921. His post as Lord Provost was filled by

Sir Thomas Hutchison Sir Thomas Hutchison (1866 – 1925) was a Scottish landowner and politician. He served as Lord Provost of Edinburgh from 1921 to 1923. Life He was born at Carlowrie House on 16 December 1866, the son of Robert Hutchison of Carlowrie and his ...

. Chesser's death in office deprived him of the two usual honours of his final year in office: a portrait in his ceremonial robes and a knighthood which would habe been scheduled for the

1922 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1922 were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by members of the British Empire. They were published on 30 December 1921. The recipients of honours are displayed here ...

. He is buried next to his parents in

Cramond Cramond Village (; gd, Cathair Amain) is a village and suburb in the north-west of Edinburgh, Scotland, at the mouth of the River Almond where it enters the Firth of Forth. The Cramond area has evidence of Mesolithic, Bronze Age and Roman ac ...

churchyard. Chesser's birthplace was renamed Keir Street in 1922 to avoid confusion with Graham Street in the newly absorbed

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

. It was demolished around 1970 to make room for an extension to

Edinburgh College of Art Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Tracing its history back to 1760, it provides higher education in art and design, architecture, histor ...

Family

He married Dorothy Simm (1858-1931).Chesser grave in Cramond They were parents to Ian Chesser.

References

1862 births 1921 deaths Politicians from Edinburgh People educated at George Heriot's School Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish solicitors Lord Provosts of Edinburgh {{Scotland-bio-stub