Alexander Hume-Campbell, 2nd Earl of Marchmont (1675 – 27 February 1740), was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

nobleman, politician and judge.

Life

The third but eldest surviving son of Patrick Hume, 1st Earl of Marchmont, by his spouse Grisel (d.1703), daughter of Sir Thomas Ker of Cavers, he assumed the additional surname of Campbell upon his marriage in 1697 with Margaret (d. 1722), daughter and heiress of Sir George Campbell of Cessnock,

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

. He studied law at

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public university, public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of ...

and became an

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. List of country legal systems, Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a ba ...

in 1696. He was appointed to 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 ...

in 1704 with the judicial title Lord Cessnock, and served there until 1714. He was a

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 ...

to the

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

Berwickshire Berwickshire (; ) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. The county takes its name from Berwick-upon-Tweed, its original county town, which was part of Scotland at the ...

in 1706, and was a supporter of the Union with

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He was

Lord Clerk Register The office of Lord Clerk Register (Scottish Gaelic: ''Clàr Morair Clèireach'') is the oldest remaining Great Officer of State in Scotland, with origins in the 13th century. It historically had important functions in relation to the maintenanc ...

from 1716 to 1733. He was

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

from 1715 to 1721, and to the Congress at Cambray in 1722. He succeeded his father to the earldom in 1724, and was a

Scottish representative peer This is a list of representative peers elected from the Peerage of Scotland to sit in the House of Lords after the Acts of Union 1707 abolished the unicameral Parliament of Scotland, where all Scottish Peers had been entit ...

from 1727 to 1734. Alexander served as one of the founding governors of Britain's first

childcare Child care, also known as day care, is the care and supervision of one or more children, typically ranging from three months to 18 years old. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(ren), childcare typica ...

charity, the

Foundling Hospital The Foundling Hospital (formally the Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children) was a children's home in London, England, founded in 1739 by the philanthropy, philanthropic Captain (nautical), sea captain ...

, which received its

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

in 1739.

References

* ''The Peerage of Scotland'', published by Peter Brown, Edinburgh, 1834, p. 146. * 1675 births 1740 deaths Nobility from the Scottish Borders Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1689–1702 Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1702–1707 Earls of Marchmont Scottish representative peers Cessnock Utrecht University alumni Members of the Faculty of Advocates Governors of the Bank of Scotland Politics of the Scottish Borders Ambassadors of Great Britain to Denmark Shire Commissioners to the Parliament of Scotland Burgh Commissioners to the Parliament of Scotland Commissioners of the Treasury of Scotland {{Scotland-law-bio-stub