Duncan McNeill, 1st Baron Colonsay

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". ...

(20 August 1793 – 31 January 1874) was a Scottish

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, judge and

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politician. He was

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and

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between 1852 and 1867. His younger brother was the physician and diplomat Sir John McNeill.

Background and education

McNeill was born on the island of Oronsay in the

Inner Hebrides The Inner Hebrides ( ; ) is an archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, which experience a mild oceanic climate. The Inner Hebrides compri ...

, the son of John McNeill (1767–1846), laird of

Colonsay Colonsay (; ; ) is an island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, located north of Islay and south of Isle of Mull, Mull. The ancestral home of Clan Macfie and the Colonsay branch of Clan MacNeil, it is in the council area of Argyll and Bute and ...

and Oronsay, and his wife Hester (née McNeill). Educated at

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where he graduated MA in 1809.. He served his apprenticeship in Edinburgh under Michael Linning WS, based at 6 St James Square. He 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 ...

in 1816. He was the presumptive father of philosopher

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Political, legal and judicial career

He was Advocate Depute in Edinburgh 1820 to 1824. MacNeill was appointed Sheriff of Perthshire in 1824. He served under

Sir Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850), was a British Conservative statesman who twice was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835, 1841–1846), and simultaneously was Chancellor of the Exchequer (1834–183 ...

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 1834 to 1835 and again from 1841 to 1842 and as

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from 1842 to 1846. From 1843 to 1851 he sat as Member of Parliament for

Argyllshire Argyll (; archaically Argyle; , ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. The county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975 and most of the area now forms part of ...

. In 1851 he was appointed a

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and an Ordinary

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as Lord Colonsay and Oronsay. He was

and

from 1852 to 1867, and was raised to the peerage as Baron Colonsay, of Colonsay and Oronsay in the County of Argyll, on 26 February 1867.

Personal life

In 1829 he was elected a Fellow of the

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his proposer being John Shank More. In later life

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awarded him an honorary doctorate (LLD). McNeill was unmarried, but lived in a very large Georgian townhouse: 73 Great King Street in Edinburgh's Second New Town. He was a member of the Highland Society of Edinburgh (1833). Lord Colonsay died at Pau,

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, on 31 January 1874, aged 80, when the title became extinct. He was interred at

Warriston Cemetery Warriston Cemetery is a cemetery in List of graveyards and cemeteries in Edinburgh, Edinburgh. It lies in Warriston, one of the northern suburbs of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was built by the then newly-formed Edinburgh Cemetery Company, and o ...

in Edinburgh, south of the upper east–west path towards the East Gate. His bronze coat of arms has been stolen from the monument.

Coat of arms

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Colonsay, Duncan Macneill, 1st Baron 1793 births 1874 deaths People from Oronsay Nobility from Argyll and Bute Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of St Andrews Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Scottish sheriffs Solicitors general for Scotland Lord advocates

Members of the Faculty of Advocates Duncan Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Scottish Tory MPs (pre-1912) UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs who were granted peerages Lords President of the Court of Session Lords Justice-General Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Burials at Warriston Cemetery 19th-century Scottish medical doctors Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria