Sir Archibald Macdonald, 1st Baronet (13 July 1747 – 18 May 1826) was a Scottish lawyer, judge and politician.

Early life

He was the posthumous son of Sir Alexander Macdonald, 7th Baronet, and younger brother of the 8th baronet (see

Baron Macdonald Baron Macdonald, of Slate in the County of Antrim, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1776 for Sir Alexander Macdonald, 9th Baronet, of Sleat. The Macdonald family of Sleat descends from Uisdean Macdonald (died 1498), als ...

), born at

Armadale Castle Armadale Castle is a ruined country house in Armadale, Skye, former home of the MacDonalds. A mansion house was first built here around 1790, facing south-east over the Sound of Sleat. In 1815 a square Tudor-Gothic mock-castle, intended for show ...

Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye (; gd, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or ; sco, Isle o Skye), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated b ...

. He was brought to England, away from Jacobite influence and entered

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

in 1760. He went on to

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

in 1764, graduating B.A. in 1768 and M.A. in 1772. He was

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 ...

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 ...

in 1770.

In politics

Macdonald was

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Hindon in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

(1777–1780) and then for

Newcastle-under-Lyme Newcastle-under-Lyme ( RP: , ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. The 2011 census population of the town was 75,082, whilst the wider borough had a population of 1 ...

(1780–1792), a seat where his father-in-law had a strong influence. In politics, Macdonald followed the Whig lead of his father-in-law. He became solicitor-general in 1784 and

attorney-general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

, and was knighted, in 1788. He served as the prosecutor in

Thomas Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In th ...

criminal libel Criminal libel is a legal term, of English origin, which may be used with one of two distinct meanings, in those common law jurisdictions where it is still used. It is an alternative name for the common law offence which is also known (in order ...

trial over the publication of ''

Rights of Man ''Rights of Man'' (1791), a book by Thomas Paine, including 31 articles, posits that popular political revolution is permissible when a government does not safeguard the natural rights of its people. Using these points as a base it defends the ...

'' in 1792. The 1792 Slave Trade Bill passed the House of Commons mangled and mutilated by the modifications and amendments of Pitt,

Earl of Mornington Earl of Mornington is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1760 for the Anglo-Irish politician and composer Garret Wellesley, 2nd Baron Mornington. On the death of the fifth earl in 1863, it passed to the Duke of Wellington; si ...

Edward James Eliot Edward James Eliot (24 August 1758 – 20 September 1797) was an English Member of Parliament. Life Eliot was born in Cornwall, the son of Catherine (''c''.1735–1804), daughter and heir of Edward Elliston of Gestingthorpe, Essex, an East India ...

and MacDonald, it lay for years, in the House of Lords.

Judge

Macdonald was appointed as second judge of the

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

circuit in Wales in 1780. He was promoted as

Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer The Chief Baron of the Exchequer was the first "baron" (meaning judge) of the English Exchequer of Pleas. "In the absence of both the Treasurer of the Exchequer or First Lord of the Treasury, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, it was he who pre ...

in 1793, and served in this post until he retired in 1813, with failing eyesight. On his retirement from the court, Macdonald was created a baronet, on 27 November 1813.

Family

Angelika Kauffmann Portrait Louisa Leveson Gower 1767

In 1777, Macdonald married Lady Louisa Leveson-Gower, daughter of

Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford, KG PC (4 August 172126 October 1803), known as Viscount Trentham from 1746 to 1754 and as The Earl Gower from 1754 to 1786, was a British politician from the Leveson-Gower family. Background ...

(at the time called by the courtesy title Earl Gower), then

Lord President of the Council The lord president of the Council is the presiding officer of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and the fourth of the Great Officers of State (United Kingdom), Great Officers of State, ranking below the Lord High Treasurer but above the ...

. They had two sons and five daughters. Three children of the marriage survived Macdonald, including

Sir James Macdonald, 2nd Baronet Sir James Macdonald, 2nd Baronet, GCMG (14 February 1784 – 29 June 1832) was a British politician. He sat in the House of Commons between 1805 and 1832. Macdonald was born 14 February 1784, the eldest and only surviving son of Sir Archibald M ...

(1784–1832). Susan (1780–1803) was the illustrator of "The Sports of the Genii" (1804) by

Anne Hunter Anne Hunter (''née'' Home) (1742 – 1821) was a salonnière and poet in Georgian London. She is remembered mostly for the texts to at least nine of Joseph Haydn's 14 songs in English. She was the wife of surgeon and anatomist John Hunter, wh ...

. Caroline Diana (1790–1867) married the cleric Thomas Randolph, son of John Randolph, and was mother of the naval officer

George Granville Randolph George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Preside ...

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Archibald 1747 births 1826 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Members of Lincoln's Inn Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Newcastle-under-Lyme Chief Barons of the Exchequer Younger sons of baronets British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796