David Rae, Lord Eskgrove
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Sir David Rae, Lord Eskgrove, 1st Baronet
FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...
FSA (1724–1804) was a Scottish
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 ...
and judge.


Life

He was the son of Agnes, daughter of Sir David Forbes of Newhall and Rev David Rae of
St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...
, an episcopalian minister. Some sources give his mother as Margaret Stewart of Blairhall, daughter of Dugald Stewart, Lord Blairhall. He was educated at the grammar school in Haddington, and then 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 ...
, where he attended the law lectures of John Erskine of Carnock. He was admitted 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 11 December 1751, and quickly acquired a practice. In 1753 he was retained in an appeal to the
House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
, which brought him to
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, where he became acquainted with
Lord Hardwicke Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke, (1 December 16906 March 1764) was an England, English lawyer and politician who served as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. He was a close confidant of the Duke of Newcastle, Prime Minister between 1 ...
and his son Charles Yorke. He was appointed one of the commissioners for collecting evidence in the Douglas case, and in that capacity accompanied James Burnett to France in September 1764. He was the leading advocate in the Scottish court of exchequer for many years. In 1773 he was living at Old Assembly Close on the
Royal Mile The Royal Mile () is the nickname of a series of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. The term originated in the early 20th century and has since entered popular usage. The Royal ...
in Edinburgh. In 1783 he was a joint founder of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...
. He became a Lord of Session on 14 November 1782, succeeding Alexander Boswell, Lord Auchinleck, and a Lord of Justiciary on 20 April 1785, taking the judicial title Lord Eskgrove (from a small estate which he possessed near Inveresk), in place of
Robert Bruce, Lord Kennet Robert Bruce of Kennet, Clackmannanshire, Kennet, Lord Kennet Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE (24 December 1718 – 8 April 1785) was a Scottish advocate, legal scholar and judge. Life Bruce was born in Edinburgh on 28 December 1 ...
. Rae was one of the judges who tried William Brodie (died 1788) for robbing the General Excise Office in August 1788, the Rev. Thomas Fyshe Palmer for seditious practices in September 1793, William Skirving and Maurice Margarot for sedition in January 1794, Joseph Gerrald for sedition in March 1794, and Robert Watt and David Downie for
high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its d ...
in September 1794. In January 1798 he oversaw the trial of George Mealmaker and other radicals. 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 1 June 1799, in place of Robert Macqueen, Lord Braxfield, holding office until his death. At this time he was living at 10 St John Street off the
Canongate The Canongate is a street and associated district in central Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The street forms the main eastern length of the Royal Mile while the district is the main eastern section of Edinburgh's Old Town. David ...
in Edinburgh. He was created a baronet on 27 June 1804. He died at his country residence, Eskgrove in Inveresk on 23 October the same year, and was interred in Inveresk Kirkyard. He has a modest stone on the south side of the church itself (St. Michael's) just to the left hand side of the south door. His wife and children are buried with him. This includes his son, Sir William Rae, 3rd Baronet, Lord Advocate of Scotland, here reduced to a simple name within a list on the stone.


Reputation

Rae is remembered by Lord Henry Cockburn in his book ''Memorials of His Time'' (published posthumously in 1856), as a "considerable lawyer" who became a deplorable judge, and Cockburn concludes "a more ludicrous personage could not exist".


Works

With John Campbell and others, William Nairne, Lord Dunsinane, according to his DNB article Rae collected the ''Decisions of the Court of Session from the end of the year 1756 to the end of the year 1760'', Edinburgh, 1765.


Family

On 14 October 1761 he married Margaret Stewart (died 1770), youngest daughter of John Stewart of Blairhall,
Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...
, by whom he had two sons and one daughter: *David, who succeeded as the second baronet, but died without male issue on 22 May 1815. David married Helen Colt and had five daughters: Helen, Margaret, Mary and Grace and Eliza Colt Rae his youngest daughter who died at Edinburgh in 1872 (reference from the memorial stone) *
William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...
(1769–1842) called to the bar in 1791, Office of Lord Advocate of Scotland from 1827 to 1830 (presiding judge at the trial of Burke & Hare on 24 December 1828 in Edinburgh); then MP for Anstruther burghs between 1819 and 1826, then as MP for Buteshire in 1830. Between 1831 and 1832 he was M.P for Portarlington, then returned to Buteshire as MP between 1833 and 1842. He died at St Catherine's House (Liberton, Edinburgh) in 1842. and *Margaret, who married, on 3 January 1804, Captain Thomas Phipps Howard of the 23rd Light Dragoons.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rae, David 1724 births 1804 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Eskgrove Members of the Faculty of Advocates Founder fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Fellows_of_the_Society_of_Antiquaries_of_London