Adam Cockburn,

Laird Laird () is the owner of a large, long-established Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a baron and above a gentleman. This rank was held only by those lairds holding official recognition in ...

Ormiston Ormiston is a village in East Lothian, Scotland, near Tranent, Humbie, Pencaitland and Cranston, located on the north bank of the River Tyne at an elevation of about . The village was the first planned village in Scotland, founded in 1735 ...

, Lord Ormiston (1656 – 16 April 1735), was a Scottish administrator, politician and judge. He served as Commissioner for Haddington Constabulary in the

parliaments In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. T ...

of 1681-2 and 1689, and in the conventions of 1678 and

1689 Events January–March * January 22 (January 12, 1688 O.S.) – Glorious Revolution in England: The Convention Parliament is convened to determine if King James II of England, the last Roman Catholic British monarch, vacated ...

. He was appointed

Lord Justice Clerk The Lord Justice Clerk is the second most senior judge in Scotland, after the Lord President of the Court of Session. Originally ''clericus justiciarie'' or Clerk to the Court of Justiciary, the counterpart in the criminal courts of the Lord ...

on 28 November 1692. Cockburn served as a member of the Privy Council, Treasurer Depute from 1699 until the accession of

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

, Lord Justice Clerk for a second term (1705–10), and a

Lord of Session The senators of the College of Justice 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 of Session); ...

from 1705.

Career

He was Commissioner for

Haddingtonshire East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the histo ...

at the Conventions of Estates in the years 1678, 1681, and 1689, and in

Parliament of Scotland The Parliament of Scotland ( sco, Pairlament o Scotland; gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba) was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland from the 13th century until 1707. The parliament evolved during the early 13th century from the king's council o ...

for the year 1690. He was nominated one of the Commissioners to treat on the Union of Parliaments, on 19 April 1689. Adam Cockburn was appointed

in place of Sir George Campbell of Cessnock on 28 November 1692 and at about the same time was sworn a Privy Councillor. He was one of the Commissioners named to inquire into the

Massacre of Glencoe The Massacre of Glencoe ( gd, Murt Ghlinne Comhann) took place in Glen Coe in the Highlands of Scotland The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Cultur ...

on 28 May 1695, and became somewhat unpopular in some quarters because of the powers awarded to his position in order for him to reach conclusions in the matter. On 6 February 1699 he succeeded Lord Raith as

Treasurer-depute of Scotland The Treasurer-depute was a senior post in the pre-Union government of Scotland. It was the equivalent of the English post of Chancellor of the Exchequer. Originally a deputy to the Treasurer, the Treasurer-depute emerged as a separate Crown ap ...

, which he retained until the accession of Queen Anne, when he was dismissed from all his offices. In 1695 he is one of the 30 or so wealthy merchants and officials setting up the "Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies" generally known simply as the Company of Scotland and being the instigator of the ruinous

Darien Scheme The Darien scheme was an unsuccessful attempt, backed largely by investors of the Kingdom of Scotland, to gain wealth and influence by establishing ''New Caledonia'', a colony on the Isthmus of Panama, in the late 1690s. The plan was for the co ...

. As he is also a signatory to the Act of Union 1707 he is one of the small group who were fully compensated for his losses in the Darien Scheme if agreeing to a Union with England. As such (i.e. being named on each list) he was one of the Parcel of Rogues referred to by

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

. Seen as an enlightened landlord, in 1698 he granted an 11-year lease to a Robert Wight, who was the first tenant farmer in Scotland to enclose his fields with a ditch and hedge, also planting trees with the hedgerow to act as a windbreak. Cockburn also enclosed his own estates at Ormiston. He obtained a commission appointing him a second time

dated 8 January 1705 and was at the same time appointed to succeed Lord Whitelaw as a

Lord Ordinary A Lord Ordinary is any judge in the Outer House The Outer House (abbreviated as CSOH in neutral citations) is one of the two parts of the Scottish Court of Session, which is the supreme civil court in Scotland. It is a court of first inst ...

in the Court of Session. As Lord Justice Clerk, he received payment of £200 a year. In May 1714, he was one of the elders appointed by the

General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the sovereign and highest court of the Church of Scotland, and is thus the Church's governing body.''An Introduction to Practice and Procedure in the Church of Scotland'' by A. Gordon McGillivray, ...

to sit on a committee investigating disputes within the church. He left the office of Lord Justice Clerk again in 1710 but retained his place as a Lord Ordinary until his death, on 16 April 1735, in his 79th year.

Family

Adam Cockburn was the son of John Cockburn of Ormiston, and Janet Hepburn, daughter of Sir Adam Hepburn of Humbie. He was retoured heir to his brother John in the family's ancient estate of

, East Lothian, on 28 December 1671. He married twice: # Susanna (born 20 July 1657,

Tyninghame Tyninghame is a small settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, about two miles north-east of East Linton. Together with the nearby settlement of Whitekirk, it gives its name to the parish of Whitekirk and Tyninghame. Tyninghame Tyninghame is ...

), daughter of

John Hamilton, 4th Earl of Haddington John Hamilton, 4th Earl of Haddington (1626 - 31 August 1669) was a Scottish nobleman. Life Haddington was born in 1626, second son of Thomas Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Haddington and Lady Catherine Erskine, a daughter of John Erskine, Earl of Mar. ...

. They had several children, including the MP John Cockburn of Ormiston; Anne, who married Sir John Inglis of Cramond; Charles, who married Margaret, daughter of John Haldane, laird of Gleneagles; and Christiane, who married Sir Robert Sinclair of Longformacus. # Anne (died 1721) daughter of Sir Patrick Houstoun, 1st Baronet. They had a daughter, Jean (1709 - 1792

Kelso, Scotland Kelso ( sco, Kelsae gd, Cealsaidh) is a market town in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Roxburghshire, it lies where the rivers Tweed and Teviot have their confluence. The town has a pop ...

) who married William Walker.

References

;Attribution

Sources

* ''An Historical Account of the Senators of the College of Justice of Scotland'', by Sir David Dalrymple of Hailes, Bt., with some further editing and additions, Edinburgh, 1849. * ''The House of Cockburn of that Ilk and Cadets Thereof'', by Thomas H.Cockburn-Hood (Edinburgh, 1888) page 154. * ''Index to Genealogies, Birthbriefs, and Funeral Escutcheons'', recorded in the

Lyon Court The Court of the Lord Lyon (the Lyon Court) is a standing court of law, based in New Register House in Edinburgh, which regulates heraldry in Scotland. The Lyon Court maintains the register of grants of arms, known as the Public Register of All ...

, by Francis J. Grant, W.S.,

Lyon Clerk and Keeper of the Records Lyon Clerk and Keeper of the Records is a legal and heraldic office in Scotland. The holder of this office is appointed by the Crown, and like the Lord Lyon King of Arms receives an annual salary. Lyon Clerk's duties include heraldic research, the ...

, Edinburgh, 1908, p. 11. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cockburn, Adam 1656 births 1735 deaths

Shire Commissioners to the Parliament of Scotland Adam Scottish diplomats Members of the Privy Council of Scotland 18th-century Scottish people 17th-century Scottish politicians 18th-century British politicians Politics of East Lothian Lairds Treasurers-depute Members of the Convention of the Estates of Scotland 1678 Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1681–1682 Members of the Convention of the Estates of Scotland 1689 Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1689–1702 Commissioners of the Treasury of Scotland