George Young, Lord Young, (2 July 1819 – 21 May 1907) was a Scottish

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

MP in the British Parliament and a judge, with the judicial title of Lord Young.

Life

He was born in Dumfries and educated locally before being sent to 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 ...

to study law. 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 1840 and was also called to the English bar. He held the judicial offices of

Sheriff of Inverness The Sheriff of Inverness was historically the office responsible for enforcing law and order and bringing criminals to justice in Inverness, Scotland. Prior to 1748 most sheriffdoms were held on a hereditary basis. From that date, following the ...

in 1853–1860 and Haddington and Berwick in 1860–1862. He was appointed

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 ...

in 1862–1866 and 1868–1869. He was appointed

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 ...

in 1869, the most senior legal position in Scotland, and technically a governmental post. This role is primarily one of law-making. He represented

Wigtown Burghs Wigtown Burghs, also known as Wigton Burghs and Wigtown District of Burghs, was a United Kingdom constituencies, constituency of the House of Commons of Great Britain, House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1800 and of ...

in 1865–1874, until he lost an election. After an election petition, that election was declared void and the seat awarded to Young on 28 May 1874. However, in June 1874, he was appointed a Judge of 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 ...

and left Parliament. On 3 March 1874 he was created a

Senator of the College of Justice The senators of the College of Justice in Scotland are judges of the College of Justice, a set of legal institutions involved in the administration of justice in Scotland. There are three types of senator: Lords of Session (judges of the Court ...

with the title Lord Young. He served until 1905. He lived his final years at 28 Moray Place on the prestigious Moray Estate in western Edinburgh.Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1905-6 Young is buried with his wife Janet Bell (d. 1901), daughter of George Graham Bell, near the south-west corner of St John's churchyard in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Legislation

The most important legislation framed and created by Lord Young was the

Education (Scotland) Act 1872 The Education (Scotland) Act 1872 ( 35 & 36 Vict. c. 62) made elementary education for all children between the ages of 5 and 13 mandatory in Scotland. The Act achieved a more thorough transfer of existing schools to a public system than the E ...

under which every town and village in Scotland were obliged to give free education to both boys and girls from the age of five to the age of eleven. This created a wave of school building across Scotland. Whilst children were still permitted to attend private schools they were not permitted to attend no school, and also imbedded in this legislation is the creation of the concept of

truancy Truancy is any intentional, unjustified, unauthorized, or illegal absence from compulsory education. It is a deliberate absence by a student's own free will and usually does not refer to legitimate excused absences, such as ones related to medic ...

Family

He married Janet Graham Bell on 18 July 1847, and they had fourteen children. Daughter Lillias ("Lily") married

Charles Kincaid Mackenzie file:Charles Kincaid Mackenzie (The Scotsman).png, right Charles Kincaid Mackenzie, Lord Mackenzie (1857–1938) was a Scottish lawyer who served as a Senator of the College of Justice. He was also a cricketer. Life He was born on 8 March ...

(later styled Lord Mackenzie).

References

Sources

* * ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832-1885'', edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976) *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, George 1819 births 1907 deaths Scottish Liberal Party MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 Members of the Faculty of Advocates

Young Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one's age is low, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an America ...

Solicitors general for Scotland Lord advocates Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Scottish sheriffs