William Scott (1705 – 17 April 1776) was an Irish lawyer and judge.

Background

He was the only son of Rev. Gideon Scott and Jane McNeill.Ball p.120 His father, an Oxford man, came to Ireland as an

army chaplain A military chaplain ministers to military personnel and, in most cases, their families and civilians working for the military. In some cases they will also work with local civilians within a military area of operations. Although the term '' ch ...

with

William III of England William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of County of Holland, Holland, County of Zeeland, Zeeland, Lordship of Utrecht, Utrec ...

, and settled in

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

. He was given the estate of Willsborough,

County Londonderry County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. B ...

in 1696 by King William, who had been greatly impressed by a sermon he preached, and named the estate after the King. William's mother was the daughter of John McNeill of

Ballintoy Ballintoy () is a small village, townland (of 274 acres) and civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is alongside the B15 coast road, north-east of Coleraine, west of Ballycastle and between it and Bushmills. It is in the historic ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

, and Elizabeth Ruthven, widow of Sir Dugald Stewart, 2nd Baronet, and thus though her mother a half-sister of

James Stuart, 1st Earl of Bute Sir James Stuart, 3rd Baronet, of Bute, created 1st Earl of Bute, MP, PC (1661 – 4 June 1710), was a Scottish soldier, advocate, judge and politician. He was the son of Sir Dugald Stuart, 2nd Baronet, and his wife Elizabeth Ruthven, daugh ...

. He went to school in

Raphoe Raphoe ( ; ) is a historical village in County Donegal, Ireland. It is the main town in the fertile district of East Donegal known as the Laggan, as well as giving its name to the Barony of Raphoe, which was later divided into the baronies of R ...

and attended

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, graduating in 1727. He entered

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in 1729 and was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1732.

Career

He was elected to the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fra ...

for the city of Londonderry in 1739 and appointed Prime Serjeant at the

Irish Bar The Bar of Ireland ( ga, Barra na hÉireann) is the professional association of barristers for Ireland, with over 2,000 members. It is based in the Law Library, with premises in Dublin and Cork. It is governed by the General Council of the Ba ...

on 6 October 1757. He was made

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

in 1735. In 1759 he was made a Puisne Justice of the

Court of King's Bench (Ireland) The Court of King's Bench (of Queen's Bench when the sovereign was female, and formerly of Chief Place or Chief Pleas) was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England. The King's Benc ...

, and on 1 August 1768 he was transferred to the

Court of Exchequer (Ireland) The Court of Exchequer (Ireland) or the Irish Exchequer of Pleas, was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was the mirror image of the equivalent court in England. The Court of Exchequer was one of the four royal courts of justic ...

as a Puisne Baron. He held this office until his death. On 13 December 1771 Scott and fellow Barons of the Exchequer Foster and

Smyth Smyth is an early variant of the common surname Smith commonly found in Ireland.Citation: Bardsley, 1901 Shown below are notable people who share the surname "Smyth". Notable people sharing the Smyth surname Listed here are people who share the ...

, along with the

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...

Lifford Lifford (, historically anglicised as ''Liffer'') is the county town of County Donegal, Ireland, the administrative centre of the county and the seat of Donegal County Council, although the town of Letterkenny is often mistaken as holding this ...

and the

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

, were appointed Commissioners of Accounts for Ireland by

Letters Patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...

.Haydn, p. 567 His career seems to have been uneventful. At a time when all public figures, including judges, were very much in the public gaze, he seems to have aroused no strong feelings, for good or bad.

Family

He married Hannah Gledstanes, daughter of Thomas Gledstanes, and had three sons: *Thomas (died 1770), who was briefly Recorder of Londonderry; *James, who inherited Willsborough and married Catherine Leslie, daughter of James Leslie,

Bishop of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe The Bishop of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe was the Ordinary of the Church of Ireland diocese of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe, which was in the Province of Cashel until 1833, then afterwards in the Province of Dublin. History The title was f ...

and his wife Joyce Lyster; *Anthony (died 1770).

References

*Ball, F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921'' London John Murray 1926 * Joseph Haydn and Horace Ockerby, ''The Book of Dignities'', 3rd edition, London 1894 (reprinted Bath 1969) 1705 births 1776 deaths Members of the Middle Temple 18th-century Irish lawyers Irish MPs 1727–1760 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Londonderry constituencies Serjeants-at-law (Ireland) 18th-century Irish judges Justices of the Irish King's Bench Barons of the Irish Exchequer Lawyers from Derry (city) {{Ireland-pre1801-MP-stub