William Kirkpatrick of Ellisland and Shaws (1705–1777) was a Scottish lawyer, academic and politician. He was born at

Closeburn Castle Closeburn Castle is a privately owned tower house, probably of the 14th century, but possibly older, and is one of the oldest continually inhabited houses in Scotland. The castle is located 1 km east of the village of Closeburn, in the hist ...

, the third son of Sir Thomas Kirkpatrick, 2nd Baronet of Closeburn, and Dame Isobell Lockhart. His father died before William and his older brother Thomas (later 3rd Baronet of Closeburn) turned 18, which led to local gentleman and future MP Charles Areskine (Erskine), Lord Tinwald overseeing the end of their formal education. It is likely he encouraged William to read law and attend Leiden University in the Netherlands. William married Areskine's daughter Jean Erskine, 21 years his junior, on 21 December 1746 in Edinburgh, and they had at least five children. Jean died in childbirth aged just 26 on 23 September 1752. Once qualified in law, William held the post of Regius Professor of the Law of Nature and Nations at Edinburgh from 2 December 1734 to May 1735, replacing Areskine who had stepped aside for him. When in 1735 he resigned from that role, it was to contest the by-election for his father-in-law’s Dumfries Burghs seat in the House of Commons after Areskine won both it and

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county. I ...

in the 1734 election. There then followed a protracted dispute over a double return (where the returning officer declares both pairs of candidates to be elected, leaving the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

to make the decision) of that bi-election, the result of which was that William did not take his seat until 13 February 1736. He served as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

until 1738, at which point he became Clerk of Session at 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 ...

. He was appointed the first crown-nominated

Sheriff of Dumfries 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 ...

in 1747. William died on 17 October 1777 at Shaws House, Dumfriesshire aged 72."The Daily Advertiser", 25 October 1777, London. Retrieved on 12 October 2014. Among his grandsons were the noted antiquary and artist

Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe (1781?–1851) was a Scottish antiquary and artist. Life He was the second son of Charles Sharpe (originally Charles Kirkpatrick) of Hoddam, Dumfriesshire, by Eleonora, youngest daughter of John Renton of Lamerton, bor ...

and his older brother General Matthew Sharpe, who followed in the footsteps of both Areskine and Kirkpatrick by serving as

for Dumfries Burghs, albeit 100 years later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkpatrick, William 1705 births 1777 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies British MPs 1734–1741 Leiden University alumni Academics of the University of Edinburgh Scottish lawyers Scottish sheriffs People from Dumfries and Galloway