William James Cullen, Lord Cullen (9 September 1859 – 19 June 1941) was a Scottish judge who rose to be a

Senator of the College of Justice The senators of the College of Justice in Scotland are judges of the College of Justice, a set of legal institutions involved in the administration of justice in Scotland. There are three types of senator: Lords of Session (judges of the Court ...

. Cullen was born and raised in Edinburgh. He trained as a solicitor before becoming an advocate and specialising in the law of

conveyancing In law, conveyancing is the transfer of legal title of real property from one person to another, or the granting of an encumbrance such as a mortgage or a lien. A typical conveyancing transaction has two major phases: the exchange of contract ...

, land and

inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

. He became a junior prosecutor, Sheriff of Fife and Kinross, and a Commissioner for Lunacy before being appointed to the bench as a

. He was later promoted to the

Inner House The Inner House is the senior part of the Court of Session, the supreme civil court in Scotland; the Outer House forms the junior part of the Court of Session. It is a court of appeal and a court of first instance. The chief justice is th ...

and sat in the Valuation Appeal Court until his resignation in 1925.

Early life

Cullen was the son of Thomas Cullen, an inspector of stamps and taxes in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. The family lived at 6 Waterloo Place at the east end of

Princes Street Princes Street () is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (three quar ...

. He was educated at Edinburgh Collegiate School and at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, where he graduated with an MA in 1880 and an

LLB A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

in 1883.

Career

In 1884, Cullen joined the company of J & F Adam as a

writer to the signet The Society of Writers to His Majesty's Signet is a private society of Scottish solicitors, dating back to 1594 and part of the College of Justice. Writers to the Signet originally had special privileges in relation to the drawing up of documen ...

, a specialist form of

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

. He switched to the other branch of the legal profession, and was admitted as an advocate in 1891. He built his reputation specialising in the law of

, land and

, and

took silk A King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarch is a woman, the title is Qu ...

in 1905. From 1905 to 1906, Cullen worked as an

advocate depute The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service () is the independent public prosecutor, prosecution service for Scotland, and is a Ministerial Department of the Scottish Government. The department is headed by Charles III of the United Kingd ...

, a junior prosecutor. In July 1906, he was appointed as Sheriff of Fife and Kinross, replacing the deceased Robert Younger KC. In April 1907 he became an unpaid Commissioner For Lunacy, and in 1909 he was raised to the bench as a

with the judicial title of Lord Cullen, filling the vacancy caused the resignation of Lord Pearson. An unflamboyant judge who disliked public speaking and avoided ceremonies where possible, Cullen was promoted in 1918 to the

, where he sat in the Valuation Appeal Court. He resigned from the court in 1925, and his seat was given to David Fleming KC, who became Lord Fleming.

Personal life

In 1888, Cullen married Grace Rutherfurd Clark (1864-1943), from

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. They had one daughter, and two sons: Kenneth Douglas Cullen (born 1889), who became an advocate in 1919; and William Geoffrey Langley Cullen (1894-1915) who died whilst serving as a second lieutenant in the

Royal Scots The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), once known as the Royal Regiment of Foot, was the oldest and most senior infantry regiment line infantry, of the line of the British Army, having been raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I of England ...

during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He died at his home 18 Grosvenor CrescentEdinburgh Post Office Directory 1910-11 in Edinburgh on 19 June 1941, aged 81. 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 o ...

in western

beneath a simple white cross in the south-west section (to the north of the huge Buchanan monument).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cullen, William James 1859 births 1941 deaths People educated at Edinburgh Collegiate School Lawyers from Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish solicitors Members of the Faculty of Advocates Scottish King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel Scottish sheriffs Senators of the College of Justice