Sir James Roberton

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 ...

LLD (1821–1889) was a 19th-century Scottish lawyer and Professor of Conveyancing at Glasgow University. The university's James Roberton Memorial Prize is named after him. His Glasgow law firm evolved into Mitchells Roberton and continues to operate.

Life

He was born on 7 January 1820 in

Dalmarnock Dalmarnock (, gd, Dail Mheàrnaig) is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated east of the city centre, directly north of the River Clyde opposite the town of Rutherglen. It is also bounded by the Glasgow neighbourhoods of Pa ...

the son of a farmer. He studied law at

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

. He first came to note as a partner in Towers-Clerk Roberton & Ross. In 1867 he became Professor of Conveyancing at Glasgow University. In 1877 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 ...

. His proposers were

William Thomson, Lord Kelvin William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, (26 June 182417 December 1907) was a British mathematician, mathematical physicist and engineer born in Belfast. Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow for 53 years, he did important ...

, Anderson Kirkwood,

Allen Thomson Allen Thomson Royal Society of London, FRS FRSE FRCSE (2 April 1809 – 21 March 1884) was a Scottish physician, known as an anatomist and embryologist. Life The only son of John Thomson (physician), Dr John Thomson by his second wife, Marg ...

, and Sir

Robert Christison Sir Robert Christison, 1st Baronet, (18 July 1797 – 27 January 1882) was a Scottish toxicologist and physician who served as president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (1838–40 and 1846-8) and as president of the British ...

. From 1885 he served as Dean of the Faculty of Advocates in Glasgow. In June 1889 he was knighted by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

. He died soon afterwards on 9 August 1889. He is buried in the

Glasgow Necropolis The Glasgow Necropolis is a Victorian cemetery in Glasgow, Scotland. It is on a low but very prominent hill to the east of Glasgow Cathedral (St. Mungo's Cathedral). Fifty thousand individuals have been buried here. Typical for the period, only ...

. The grave lies in one of the north–south lines in the eastern section of the upper plateau. The grave is vandalised and his bronze portrait lies behind the main stone.

Family

He was married to Jeannie Ann Craig (1839-1907), daughter of William Craig, a Glasgow merchant. Their son James D Roberton died in 1932.

Artistic Recognition

His portrait photograph by

Thomas Annan Thomas Annan (1829–1887) was a Scottish photographer, notable for being the first to record the bad housing conditions of the poor. Biography Born in Dairsie, Fife he was one of seven children of John Annan, a flax spinner. Career After ...

is held by the

Scottish National Portrait Gallery The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. The gallery holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the Scottish National Photography Co ...

References

1821 births 1889 deaths Alumni of the University of Glasgow Academics of the University of Glasgow Scottish lawyers Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Bridgeton–Calton–Dalmarnock {{Scotland-law-bio-stub