John Clerk, Lord Eldin
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 letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...
FSA (1757– 30 May1832) was a Scottish judge based in
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 ...
.
Life
He was the eldest son of Susannah Adam, the sister of
John Adam and
Robert Adam
Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his ...
, and
John Clerk of Eldin
John Clerk of Eldin FRSE FSAScot (10 December 1728 – 10 May 1812) was a Scottish merchant, naval author, artist, geologist and landowner. The 7th son of Sir John Clerk of Penicuik, Bt, Clerk of Eldin was a figure in the Scottish Enlightenmen ...
. He was born in April 1757 in
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 ...
.
Though originally intended for the
Indian Civil Service
The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947.
Its members ruled over more than 300 million p ...
, he was apprenticed to a
Writer to the Signet. After serving his articles he practised for a year or two as an accountant, and eventually was admitted a member of 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 ...
on 3 December 1785.
He had an extensive practice at the bar. A keen
Whig, on 11 March 1806 he was appointed
Solicitor General for Scotland in the
Grenville administration, an office which he held during the year that the ministry lasted. His practice at the bar had been for some time falling off, and his health had already begun to fail, when, on 10 November 1823, he was appointed an ordinary
Lord of Session in place of
William Bannatyne, Lord Bannatyne
Sir William Macleod Bannatyne, Lord Bannatyne FRSE (26 January 1743 – 30 November 1833) was a distinguished Scottish advocate, judge, antiquarian and historian.
Life
The son of Mr. Roderick Macleod WS and Isabel Bannantyne, daughter of He ...
. Assuming the title of Lord Eldin, he took his seat on the bench 22 November; but his health was poor. After five years of judicial work he resigned in 1828, and was succeeded by
John Fullerton, Lord Fullerton.
His father, his uncle
George and he himself were friends of the geologist
James Hutton
James Hutton (; 3 June O.S.172614 June 1726 New Style. – 26 March 1797) was a Scottish geologist, agriculturalist, chemical manufacturer, naturalist and physician. Often referred to as the father of modern geology, he played a key role ...
.
He was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh
The Royal Society of Edinburgh 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 established i ...
in 1784.
Clerk died unmarried at his house at 16 Picardy Place, Edinburgh,
on 30 May 1832. He was buried with his ancestors in the Eldin vault in the Old Kirk of
Lasswade
Lasswade is a village and civil parish in Midlothian, Scotland, on the River North Esk, nine miles (14.5 kilometres) south of Edinburgh city centre, contiguous with Bonnyrigg and between Dalkeith to the east and Loanhead to the west. Melville ...
, just south of Edinburgh.
His collection of pictures and prints was sold by auction at his house in March 1833; a serious accident occurred, the floor giving way.
References
;Attribution
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clerk, John
1757 births
1832 deaths
Eldin
Solicitors General for Scotland
Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Lawyers from Edinburgh
Paintings by Henry Raeburn