Charles Erskine also spelled Areskine (1680 – 5 April 1763), of Tinwald and Barjarg, Dumfries, and Alva, Clackmannan was

Lord Advocate His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate (), is the principal legal adviser of both the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolution, devolved powers of the Scottish P ...

, 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 ...

judge, and a politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

from 1722 to 1742.

Life

Erskine was the fourth son of Sir Charles Erskine, 1st Baronet, of

Alva, Clackmannanshire Alva (Scottish Gaelic: ''Ailbheach'', meaning rocky) is a small town in Clackmannanshire, set in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is one of a number of towns situated immediately to the south of the Ochil Hills, collectively referred to as t ...

and his wife Christian Dundas, daughter of Sir James Dundas, Lord Arniston. His older brothers included Robert Erskine, physician to

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

. He was educated at the High School of Edinburgh and studied law at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

from 1693. At the age of 20 he was a candidate for the office of one of the four Regents of the

, and after an examination with several competitors obtained that appointment on 26 November 1700 until 17 October 1707. On 7 November 1707 he was appointed the first

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

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at the University, despite the protests of the council. He was at

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

in about 1710 and became a member of the

Faculty of Advocates The Faculty of Advocates () is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary. The Faculty of Advocates is a const ...

on 14 July 1711. Erskine was elected Member of Parliament for

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the hi ...

1722 Events January–March * January 27 – Daniel Defoe's novel '' Moll Flanders'' is published anonymously in London. * February 10 – The Battle of Cape Lopez begins off of the coast of West Africa (and present-day Gabon), ...

, 1727 and 1734, for the Dumfries Burghs in 1734, for the Tain Burghs in

1741 Events January–March * January 13 ** Lanesborough, Massachusetts is created as a township. ** Conventicle Act of 1741 is introduced in Denmark-Norway. *February 13 – Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister of Great Britain ...

. He was

Solicitor General for Scotland His Majesty's Solicitor General for Scotland () is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, and the deputy of the Lord Advocate, whose duty is to advise the Scottish Government on Scots Law. They are also responsible for the Crown Office and P ...

from 2 June 1725,

from 20 January 1737 to 1742. He was raised as a Lord of Justiciary, and also to the bench on 23 November 1744 as Lord Tinwald. He was also

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 ...

from 15 June 1748 until his death. In 1749 he purchased Alva House from his nephew and enlarged and remodelled the property. His Edinburgh property at this time (required to attend the Edinburgh courts) was at Mylne's Square, opposite the

Tron Kirk The Tron Kirk is a former principal parish church in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is a well-known landmark on the Royal Mile. It was built in the 17th century and closed as a church in 1952. Having stood empty for over fifty years, it was used ...

200m east of the courts. In 1755 he purchased Drumsheugh House west of Edinburgh. He commissioned James Adam to extend the property and refront in a more modern idiom. The house was two storey and basement in form.Kirkwood's Plan of the New Town 1819 The house was demolished to create Drumsheugh Place.

Family

He married Grizel Grierson, daughter of John Grierson of Barjarg on 21 December 1712, through whom he inherited Barjarg Tower. Erskine married as his second wife Elizabeth Maxwell, widow of Dr William Maxwell of Preston, Lancashire, and daughter of William Harestanes of Craigs, Kirkcudbright on 26 August 1753. He died at Edinburgh on 5 April 1763 leaving two sons by his first wife: * Charles Erskine (1716–1749) - a lawyer, and MP for Ayr Burghs from 1747 to 1749. * James Erskine, Lord Alva Erskine's brother Sir John Erskine was also an MP.

In fiction

Charles Erskine, Lord Tinwald, features as a character in Andrew Drummond's fantasy novel, ''The Books of the Incarceration of the Lady Grange'' (2016).

References

* ''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. {{DEFAULTSORT:Erskine, Charles 1680 births 1763 deaths 17th-century Scottish people 18th-century Scottish people Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 Lord advocates Tinwald Academics of the University of Edinburgh Members of the Faculty of Advocates Solicitors general for Scotland Younger sons of baronets

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...