Plaque of James Wellwood Moncrieff on his grave in Dean Cemetery

James Wellwood Moncrieff's grave, Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh

Sir James Wellwood Moncreiff, 9th Baronet, with the judicial title Lord Moncreiff (1776–1851) was a Scottish lawyer and judge.

Life

He was the second son of the Rev. Sir Henry Moncreiff Wellwood (1750–1827) of Tullibole in Kinross-shire, baronet and minister of

St Cuthbert's Church, Edinburgh The Parish Church of St Cuthbert is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in central Edinburgh. Probably founded in the 7th century, the church once covered an extensive parish around the burgh of Edinburgh. The church's current building was ...

. Born 13 September 1776, he was educated at school in Edinburgh and 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 , ...

, and held an

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

, where he graduated B.C.L. in 1800. He was called to the

Scottish bar 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 ...

on 26 January 1799. A supporter of Henry Erskine while still young, Moncrieff retained his Whig principles. In the

General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the sovereign and highest court of the Church of Scotland, and is thus the Church's governing body.''An Introduction to Practice and Procedure in the Church of Scotland'' by A. Gordon McGillivray ...

he was one of the lay leaders of the opposition to private patronage. In 1806 he stood for the office of procurator or legal adviser of the church, but was defeated by Sir John Connell. On 7 February 1807 he was appointed

sheriff of Clackmannan and Kinross A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

, and also acquired a good practice at the bar. On 19 December 1820 Moncrieff presided at the Pantheon meeting, which passed resolutions in favour of a petition to the Crown for the dismissal of the Tory ministry of

Lord Liverpool Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, (7 June 1770 – 4 December 1828) was a British Tory statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1812 to 1827. He held many important cabinet offices such as Foreign Secret ...

. On 22 November 1826 he was elected Dean 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 constitu ...

, his friend

Francis Jeffrey Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey (23 October 1773 – 26 January 1850) was a Scottish judge and literary critic. Life He was born at 7 Charles Street near Potterow in south Edinburgh, the son of George Jeffrey, a clerk in the Court of Session ...

making way for him, though his senior, gracefully ceding his claim in favour of his friend. In 1828, following the custom of the bar that no criminal should be undefended, he acted for the "resurrectionist" William Burke. In March 1829 he spoke at a large meeting in Edinburgh in favour of

Catholic Emancipation Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...

. On 24 June 1829 Moncrieff was made a judge of the

court of session The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland and constitutes part of the College of Justice; the supreme criminal court of Scotland is the High Court of Justiciary. The Court of Session sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh ...

Sir Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer ...

, in succession to Lord Alloway, and was succeeded as Dean of Faculty by Jeffrey. After becoming a judge he still acted as a member of the General Assembly, and carried in 1834 a motion in favour of a popular veto on patronage. At the

Disruption of 1843 The Disruption of 1843, also known as the Great Disruption, was a schism in 1843 in which 450 evangelical ministers broke away from the Church of Scotland to form the Free Church of Scotland. The main conflict was over whether the Church of S ...

Moncrieff joined the Free Church of Scotland. He died on 30 March 1851. He is buried in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and on ...

in Edinburgh, against the north wall of the original cemetery, backing onto the late Victorian extension.

Family

By his marriage in 1808 with Ann, daughter of Captain J. Robertson, R.N., he had five sons and three daughters. His eldest son was the Rev.

Sir Henry Wellwood-Moncreiff, 10th Baronet Sir Henry Wellwood-Moncreiff, 10th Baronet, originally Henry Moncrieff (21 May 1809–4 November 1883) was a Scottish minister, considered one of the most influential figures in the Free Church of Scotland (1843-1900), Free Church of Scotland in ...

James Moncreiff, 1st Baron Moncreiff James Moncreiff, 1st Baron Moncreiff of Tullibole LLD (29 November 1811 – 27 April 1895) was a Scottish lawyer and politician. Life Moncreiff was born on 29 November 1811 to Ann, daughter of George Robertson, R. N. and Sir James Wellwood Mon ...

was his second son, and Thomas Moncreiff was his fifth son.

References

;Citations ;Sources * * ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Moncreiff, James Wellwood 1776 births 1851 deaths Moncreiff Deans of the Faculty of Advocates Baronets in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia Alumni of the University of Glasgow Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Scottish sheriffs