Adam Cockburn,

Laird Laird () is a Scottish word for minor lord (or landlord) and is a designation that applies to an owner of a large, long-established Scotland, Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a Baronage of ...

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 173 ...

, Lord Ormiston (1656 – 16 April 1735), was a Scottish administrator, politician and judge. He served as

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

for Haddington Constabulary in the parliaments of 1681-2 and 1689, and in the conventions of 1678 and

1689 Events Notable events during this year include: * Coup, war, and legislation in England and its territories. ** The overthrow of Catholic king James of England, Ireland, and Scotland in the Glorious Revolution. ** The latter realms ente ...

. 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. The current Lord Justice Clerk is Lord Beckett, who was appointed to the position on 4 February 2025, succeeding Lady Dorr ...

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 name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), Annie a ...

, Lord Justice Clerk for a second term (1705–10), and a Lord of Session from 1705.

Career

He was Commissioner for Haddingtonshire at the Conventions of Estates in the years 1678, 1681, and 1689, and in

Parliament of Scotland In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

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 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-Act of Union 1707, Union government of Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland. It was the equivalent of the English post of Chancellor of the Exchequer. Originally a deputy to the Treasurer of Scotland, ...

, 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 in the Darién Gap on the Isthmus of Panama, in the late 1690s. The pl ...

. As he is also a signatory to the

Act of Union 1707 The Acts of Union refer to two acts of Parliament, one by the Parliament of Scotland in March 1707, followed shortly thereafter by an equivalent act of the Parliament of England. They put into effect the international Treaty of Union agree ...

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 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...

. 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 in the

Court of Session The Court of Session is the highest national court of Scotland in relation to Civil law (common law), civil cases. The court was established in 1532 to take on the judicial functions of the royal council. Its jurisdiction overlapped with othe ...

. 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 East Lothian (; ; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In ...

, on 28 December 1671. He married twice: # Susanna (born 20 July 1657, Tyninghame), daughter of John Hamilton, 4th Earl of Haddington. 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), the twice-widowed daughter of Sir Patrick Houstoun, 1st Baronet, and mother of his son-in-law, Sir John Inglis of Cramond.Fraser, Barclay, "John Wood's Cramond", in Fraser, Barclay (ed.), ''Cramond'', The Cramond Association, p. 19 They had a daughter, Jean (1709 - 1792 Kelso, Scotland) 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, by Francis J. Grant, W.S., Lyon Clerk and Keeper of the Records, Edinburgh, 1908, p. 11. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cockburn, Adam 1656 births 1735 deaths

Shire Commissioners to the Parliament of Scotland

Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, 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