Sir William Campbell Johnston

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 ...

(24 November 1860 – 6 October 1938) was a Scottish lawyer and noted cricketer.

Life

He was born at 32 Heriot Row in Edinburgh on 24 November 1860, the son of Henry Johnston, a surgeon in the East India Company. His older brothers included Henry Johnston, Lord Johnston and

Duncan Johnston Colonel Sir Duncan Alexander Johnston (25 June 1847 – 21 October 1931) was a Royal Engineers officer who became Director General of the Ordnance Survey. He also played first-class cricket for Derbyshire County Cricket Club, Derbyshire in ...

. He was sent to boarding school at Clifton College in Bristol in England. He was then apprenticed as a lawyer to John Cowan and James Dalmahoy in Edinburgh, becoming an official Writer to the Signet (WS) in 1885. In later life he lived at 19 Walker Street in Edinburgh’s West End. In 1922 he became official Collector of the Widows Fund. In 1924 he became Deputy Keeper of the Signet, replacing Sir George Paul. He also served as a Director of the Commercial Bank of Scotland and of the Life Association of Scotland. He served as a Governor of Fettes College and of Keil College in Dumbarton. In 1933 he was the first Chairman of the newly created General Council of Solicitors. He was a member of the Royal Company of Archers (the King’s official bodyguard in Scotland). He received an honorary doctorate (LLD) in 1928 and was knighted in 1934. 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 ...

in the same year. His proposers were

Arthur Logan Turner Arthur Logan Turner FRCSEd FRSE LLD (4 May 1865 – 6 June 1939) was a Scottish surgeon, who specialised in diseases of ear, nose and throat (ENT) and was one of the first surgeons to work at the purpose-built ENT Pavilion at the Royal Infirmar ...

, James Watt, Sir

Ernest Wedderburn Sir Ernest MacLagan Wedderburn (3 February 1884 – 3 June 1958) was a Scottish lawyer, and a significant figure both in the civic life of Edinburgh and in the legal establishment. He held the posts of Professor of Conveyancing in the Universi ...

, and James Hartley Ashworth.

Death

He died on 6 October 1938. He is buried with his wife and family 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 western Edinburgh. The grave lies in one of the southern sections of the first northern extension.

Family

In 1889 he married Alicia Christina Macpherson (d.1943). Their daughters were Lillias Campbell Johnston OBE (1891-1978), Nora Isabel Campbell Johnston (1892-1979) and Bertha Lois Campbell Johnston (1901-1974).

Artistic Recognition

His portrait, by James Bell Anderson, hangs in the

Signet Library Signet may refer to: * Signet, Kenya, A subsidiary of the Kenyan Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), specifically set up to broadcast and distribute the DTT signals * Signet ring, a ring with a seal set into it, typically by leaving an impression in se ...

in Edinburgh.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, William Campbell 1860 births 1938 deaths Lawyers from Edinburgh People educated at Clifton College Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Scottish lawyers Knights Bachelor Burials at the Dean Cemetery