William Adam Wilson

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 ...

(28 July 1928 – 14 March 1994) was a Scottish lawyer who served as Professor of Scots Law at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. As an author he was known as W. A. Wilson and informally as Bill Wilson. The University of Edinburgh's W. A. Wilson Memorial Lecture, inaugurated in 1995, is named in his honour.

Life

Wilson was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

on 28 July 1928 the son of Anne Adam and Hugh Wilson, her husband. He was educated at

Hillhead High School Hillhead High School is a day school in Glasgow, Scotland, on Oakfield Avenue, neighbouring the University of Glasgow. Admissions It is one of the largest schools in Glasgow. History Grammar school Until 1972 it was a co-educational selectiv ...

. He studied law at the

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

, graduating in 1948 with an MA and again in 1951 with an LLB. He practiced as a solicitor for several years before becoming a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh in 1960. In 1965, he was made a senior lecturer. In 1972, he became the first Lord President Reid Professor of Law at the University. He became Dean of the Law Faculty in 1976. In 1991 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

Neil MacCormick Sir Donald Neil MacCormick (27 May 1941 – 5 April 2009) was a Scottish legal philosopher and politician. He was Regius Professor of Public Law and the Law of Nature and Nations at the University of Edinburgh from 1972 until 2008. He was a ...

Kemp Davidson, Lord Davidson The Hon Charles Kemp Davidson, Lord Davidson FRSE (13 April 1929 – 18 June 2009) was a Scottish lawyer who rose to be a Senator of the College of Justice and Dean of the Faculty of Advocates. He was Chairman of the Scottish Law Commission 1988 t ...

, Michael Yeoman, and

John Terence Coppock John Terry Coppock CBE FBA FRSE (2 June 1921 – 28 June 2000) was a British geographer who was the Ogilvie Professor of Human Geography at University of Edinburgh from 1966 to 1986 and Secretary and Treasurer of the Carnegie Trust for the Unive ...

. He died in

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 ...

of cancer on 14 March 1994.Independent (newspaper) obituaries: 6 April 1994

W. A. Wilson memorial lectures

Lord Rodger Alan Ferguson Rodger, Baron Rodger of Earlsferry, (18 September 1944 – 26 June 2011) was a Scottish academic, lawyer, and Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. He served as Lord Advocate, the senior Law Officer of Scotlan ...

, (

Lord Advocate , body = , insignia = Crest of the Kingdom of Scotland.svg , insigniasize = 110px , image = File:Official Portrait of Dorothy Bain QC.png , incumbent = Dorothy Bain KC , incumbentsince = 22 June 2021 , appointer = Monarch on the advice ...

) (1995) – "Thinking About Scots Law" *James Gordley (University of California, Berkeley) (1996) – "Contract and Delict" *

Sir Anthony Mason Sir Anthony Frank Mason HonFAIB DistFRSN (born 21 April 1925) is an Australian judge who served as the ninth Chief Justice of Australia, in office from 1987 to 1995. He was first appointed to the High Court of Australia, High Court in 1972, ...

(Chief Justice, high Court of Australia) (1997) – "Negligence and the Liability of Public Authorities" *Eric Clive (

Scottish Law Commission The Scottish Law Commission is an advisory non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. It was established in 1965 to keep Scots law under review and recommend necessary reforms to improve, simplify and update the country's legal sy ...

) (1998) – "Law Making in Scotland" *Joe Thomson (Scottish Law Commission) (1999) – ? *

Keith Ewing Keith David Ewing (born 29 March 1955) is professor of public law at King's College London and recognised as a leading scholar in public law, constitutional law, law of democracy, labour law and human rights. Ewing's work has been considered as ...

(

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

) (2000) – "Constitutional Reform and Human Rights" *Shael Herman (

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

) (2002) – "Specific Performance: a Comparative Analysis" *Horatia Muir Watt (

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University (french: Sorbonne Université; la Sorbonne: 'the Sorbonne') is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon ...

) (2004) – "European Integration" *Vernon Palmer (

) (2007) – "Two Rival Theories of Mixed Legal Systems" *

Lord Hope of Craighead James Arthur David Hope, Baron Hope of Craighead, (born 27 June 1938) is a retired Scottish judge who served as the first Deputy President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom from 2009 until his retirement in 2013, having previously be ...

(Lord of Appeal in Ordinary) (2008) – "The Strange Habits of the English" *

Hector MacQueen Hector Lewis MacQueen (born 1956) is a Scottish academic, a senior scholar of Scots law and legal history, and a former member of the Scottish Law Commission. He is Professor of Private Law at the University of Edinburgh and a former Dean of i ...

(

) (2009) – "Scotland's First Woman Law Graduates" *Lionel Smith (

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

) (2010) – "Scottish Trusts in the Common Law" *

George Gretton George Lidderdale Gretton WS FRSE (born 1950) is a Scottish lawyer and academic and, from May 2006 to May 2011, was a Commissioner of the Scottish Law Commission. Career Gretton had his early education at West House School and King Edward's, B ...

(University of Edinburgh) (2012) – "On Law Commissioning and Other things" * Robert Stevens (

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

) (2012) – "Insults" *

Reinhard Zimmermann Reinhard Zimmermann (born 10 October 1952) is a German jurist and a director of the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law. Since 2011 he has been the President of the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes. Life Zim ...

(

Max Planck Institute Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) (1 ...

) (2013) – "Damages in European Contract Law" *

David Snyder David L. Snyder (born September 22, 1944) is an American film and television production designer. He has worked as an art director, producer, and assistant director on films including ''Blade Runner'', '' Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey'', ''The Whole ...

(

Washington College of Law The American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL or WCL) is the law school of American University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C. It is located on the western side of Tenley Circle in the Tenleyto ...

) (2014) – "Metamophoses in the Law of Contract" *John Blackie (

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

) (2015) – "Historically Informed Law Reform"

Publications

*''Trusts, Trustees and Executors'' (1975) *''Debt'' (1982) *''Introductory Essay on Scots Law'' (1984)

References

1926 births 1994 deaths Lawyers from Glasgow People educated at Hillhead High School Alumni of the University of Glasgow Academics of the University of Edinburgh Scottish solicitors Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 20th-century Scottish lawyers {{Scotland-law-bio-stub