The House of Commons, 1833 by Sir George Hayter

Robert Cutlar Fergusson (1768–1838) was a Scottish lawyer and politician. He was 17th Laird of the

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county. I ...

Fergussons, seated at

Craigdarroch :''"Craigdarroch, An Accessory to Murder" is an expansion set for the board game Kill Doctor Lucky'' Craigdarroch is a house near Moniaive, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It was the seat of the Chief of the Dumfriesshire Fergussons for 600 y ...

(

Moniaive Moniaive ( 'monny-IVE'; gd, Am Moine Naomh, ''"The Holy Moor"'') is a village in the Parish of Glencairn, in Dumfries and Galloway, southwest Scotland. It stands on the Cairn and Dalwhat Waters, north-west of the town of Dumfries. Moniaive ha ...

, Dumfriesshire).

Life

Robert Fergusson was born in

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

, the eldest son of Alexander Fergusson, Esq., of

and Orraland House,

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 county ...

, who was an eminent advocate. His great-grandfather was Alexander Fergusson, the husband of

Annie Laurie "Annie Laurie" is an old Scottish song based on a poem said to have been written by William Douglas (1682?–1748) of Dumfriesshire, about his romance with Annie Laurie (1682–1764). The words were modified and the tune was added by Alicia Sco ...

of folksong fame. He was educated at Edinburgh and studied law at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

, being

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1797. He was gaoled for a year in the

King's Bench prison The King's Bench Prison was a prison in Southwark, south London, England, from medieval times until it closed in 1880. It took its name from the King's Bench court of law in which cases of defamation, bankruptcy and other misdemeanours were hea ...

in the late 1790s for being associated with Arthur O'Connor and Father

James Coigly Father James Coigly (''aka'' James O'Coigley and Jeremiah Quigley) (1761 – 7 June 1798) was a Roman Catholic priest in Ireland active in the republican movement against the British Crown and the kingdom's Protestant Ascendancy. He serve ...

, United Irishmen who were trying to coordinate a republican insurrection in Ireland, with radical circles in Britain and with the

French Directory The Directory (also called Directorate, ) was the governing five-member committee in the French First Republic from 2 November 1795 until 9 November 1799, when it was overthrown by Napoleon, Napoleon Bonaparte in the Coup of 18 Brumaire and r ...

. On his release he decided it would be wise to leave the country and therefore moved to India where he worked as a barrister for some 30 years in the Supreme Court of Judicature at Calcutta. He was made acting

Advocate-General of Bengal The Advocate-General of Bengal was charged with advising the Government of the British administered Bengal Presidency on legal matters. The Presidency existed from 1765 to 1947. Prior to 1858, when it was administered by the East India Company, t ...

in 1817 when Edward Strettell left for England due to ill-health, holding the post until

Robert Spankie Robert Spankie (17 April 1774 – 2 November 1842) was a Scottish-born journalist, barrister and politician who spent most of his career and life in England and India. Born in Falkland, Fife, he was the son of a Church of Scotland Minister. He ...

arrived as Strettell's successor. When Spankie returned to England in 1823, Fergusson succeeded him as Advocate-General. On his return to Britain he was elected MP for the Stewardtry of Kirkcudbright in 1826, sitting until 1838. He was appointed a

Privy Councillor A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

in 1834 and Judge Advocate General from 1835 to 1838.

Dwarkanath Tagore Dwarkanath Tagore ( bn, দ্বারকানাথ ঠাকুর, ''Darokanath Ţhakur''; 1794–1846) was one of the first Indian industrialists to form an enterprise with British partners. He was the son of Ramlochon Tagore, the founder ...

, the great Bengal entrepreneur, was apprenticed under him in 1810, and Fergusson was one of the two leading influences in his life."History of the Adi Brahmo Samaj (1906)" p. 27.

References

External links

* 1768 births 1838 deaths Members of Lincoln's Inn Scottish lawyers Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 {{Scotland-UK-MP-stub