Patrick Fraser Tytler

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(Scot) (30 August 179124 December 1849) was a Scottish

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...

and historian. He was described as the "Episcopalian historian of a Presbyterian country".

Life

The Fraser Tytler family vault, Greyfriars Kirkyard

The son of Alexander Fraser Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee, he was born in a house on 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 ...

. He was named after his paternal uncle, Col Patrick Tytler. He was educated at the

Edinburgh High School The Royal High School (RHS) of Edinburgh is a co-educational school administered by the City of Edinburgh Council. The school was founded in 1128 and is one of the oldest schools in Scotland. It serves 1,200 pupils drawn from four feeder primar ...

. He was admitted 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 constitu ...

in Edinburgh in 1813; in 1816 he became

King's counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

in the

Exchequer In the civil service of the United Kingdom, His Majesty’s Exchequer, or just the Exchequer, is the accounting process of central government and the government's ''current account'' (i.e., money held from taxation and other government reven ...

, and practised as an advocate until 1832. At this time he was living at 36 Melville Street, a large terraced townhouse in Edinburgh's west end. He then moved to London, and it was largely owing to his efforts that a scheme for publishing state papers was carried out. Tytler was one of the founders of the

Bannatyne Club The Bannatyne Club, named in honour of George Bannatyne and his famous anthology of Scots literature the Bannatyne Manuscript, was a text publication society founded by Sir Walter Scott to print rare works of Scottish interest, whether in history ...

and of the English Historical Society. He died at

Great Malvern Great Malvern is an area of the spa town of Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, on the eastern flanks of the Worcestershire Beacon and North Hill, and i ...

on 24 December 1849. His body was returned to

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 ...

for burial in the family vault, which lies within the sealed south-west section of

Greyfriars Kirkyard Greyfriars Kirkyard is the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the southern edge of the Old Town, adjacent to George Heriot's School. Burials have been taking place since the late 16th century, and a num ...

known as the Covenanter's Prison. His biography (1859) was written by his friend

John William Burgon John William Burgon (21 August 18134 August 1888) was an English Anglican divine who became the Dean of Chichester Cathedral in 1876. He was known during his lifetime for his poetry and his defence of the historicity and Mosaic authorship of Gen ...

Family

Tytler first married Rachel Elisabeth Hog (sister of

James Maitland Hog James Maitland Hog of Newliston and Kellie FRSE DL (7 August 1799 – 1 August 1858) was a Scottish advocate and landowner. He owned Newliston House and its estates, an impressive mansion by Robert Adam. Early life James Maitland Hog, o ...

) on 30 March 1826 at

Newliston Newliston is a country house near Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located south-west of Kirkliston, and west of the city centre. The house, designed by Robert Adam in the late 18th century, is a category A listed building. The 18th-century gardens, ...

and together they had 3 children, including Mary Stewart Fraser Tytler (1827–1887) who is buried in

Grange Cemetery The Grange (originally St Giles' Grange) is an affluent suburb of Edinburgh, just south of the city centre, with Morningside and Greenhill to the west, Newington to the east, The Meadows park and Marchmont to the north, and Blackford Hil ...

rather than in the family vault. Rachel died on 15 April 1835. He then married on either 12 or 22 August 1845, in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, his cousin, Anastasia Bonar, daughter of Thomson Bonar (1780–1828) of Campden, Kent, by his spouse Anastasia Jessie Gascoigne, widow of Charles Gascoigne, daughter of Dr Matthew Guthrie of Halkerton.

Works

Tytler is most noted for his literary output. He contributed to Archibald Alison's ''Travels in France'' (1815); his first independent essays were papers in ''

Blackwood's Magazine ''Blackwood's Magazine'' was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by the publisher William Blackwood and was originally called the ''Edinburgh Monthly Magazine''. The first number appeared in April 1817 ...

''. His major work, the ''History of Scotland'' (1828–1843), covered the period between 1249 and 1603. A second edition was published in 1841–1843. The seventh volume deals with the reign of

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scot ...

after her marriage with

Darnley Darnley is an area in south-west Glasgow, Scotland, on the A727 just west of Arden (the areas are separated by the M77 motorway although a footbridge connects them). Other nearby neighbourhoods are Priesthill to the north, Southpark Village t ...

. His other works include: *contributions to George Thomson's ''Select Melodies of Scotland'' (1824) *''Life of James Crichton of Cluny, commonly called the

Admirable Crichton James Crichton, known as the Admirable Crichton (19 August 1560 – 3 July 1582), was a Scottish polymath noted for his extraordinary accomplishments in languages, the arts, and sciences before he was murdered at the age of 21. Ear ...

'' (1819; 2nd ed., 1823) *a ''Memoir of Sir Thomas Craig of Riccarton'' (1823) *an ''Essay on the Revival of Greek Literature in Italy'', and ''The Life of

John Wycliffe John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, theologian, biblical translator, reformer, Catholic priest, and a seminary professor at the University of O ...

'', published anonymously (1826)
''Lives of Scottish Worthies''
for ''

Murray's Family Library ''Murray's Family Library'' was a series of non-fiction works published from 1829 to 1834, by John Murray, in 51 volumes. The series editor was John Gibson Lockhart, who also wrote the first book, a biography of Napoleon. The books were priced a ...

'' (1831–1833)
''Historical View of the Progress of Discovery in America''
(1832)
''Life of Sir Walter Raleigh''
(1833) *''Memoirs of the War Carried on in Scotland and Ireland in 1689–1691'' (1833)
''Life of Henry VIII.''
(1837)
''England under the Reigns of Edward VI. and Mary'', from original letters
(1839) *''Notes on the Darnley Jewel'' (1843) *''Portraits of Mary Queen of Scots'' (1845).

References

* ''The Royal Families of England, Scotland, and Wales, with their Descendants'', etc., by Messrs, John and John Bernard Burke, London, volume 1 (1848) pedigree CLXXIX.

External links

* * * * * * * * * * * The contents of the missing Volume V above, from the 3rd Edition, are contained in a later edition, immediately following (which itself is from an incomplete edition of Tytler's ''History''). * * Several of his other works * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Works about him and his publications * * * * – a review taking Tytler to task on a number of points; first printed in th
North British Review (May – August 1845)
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tytler, Patrick Fraser 1791 births 1849 deaths Writers from Edinburgh People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh Members of the Faculty of Advocates Historians of Scotland 19th-century Scottish historians Scottish King's Counsel Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Burials at Greyfriars Kirkyard Scottish antiquarians Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland