James Moncreiff, 1st Baron Moncreiff (29 November 1811 – 27 April 1895) 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 ...

lawyer and politician.

Life

Moncreiff was born on 29 November 1811 to Ann, daughter of George Robertson, R. N. and Sir James Wellwood Moncreiff, 9th Baronet, a Scottish judge.''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage,'' 100th Edn, London, 1953. He was born at his parents' Edinburgh townhouse on 13 Northumberland Street. He was educated at

Edinburgh High School The Royal High School (RHS) of Edinburgh is a co-educational school administered by the City of Edinburgh Council. The school was founded in 1128 and is one of the oldest schools in Scotland. It serves around 1,400 pupils drawn from four feeder pr ...

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 ...

and was admitted to 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 1833. 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 1850, and

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 ...

from 1851 to 1852, from 1852 to 1858, from 1859 to 1866 and from 1868 to 1869. He was Dean of the Faculty of Advocates from 1858 to 1869. 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 ...

from 1869 to 1888. Moncreiff was appointed a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

in 1869. He was Rector of the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

from 1868 to 1871, and held the degrees of LLD from both Edinburgh and Glasgow universities. Moncreiff was Member of Parliament for Leith Burghs from 1851 to 1859, for

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 ...

from 1859 to 1868 and for Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities in 1868. During a long career in parliament Moncreiff guided the passing of over 100 acts of parliament, and his name is associated with the reform of legal procedure and mercantile law. As lord advocate he was engaged as public prosecutor in important cases, notably the trials of Madeline Smith, Wielobycki, and the directors of the Western bank. In 1854, Moncreiff was appointed to the Royal Commission for Consolidating the Statute Law, a

royal commission A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...

to consolidate existing statutes and enactments of

English law English law is the common law list of national legal systems, legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly English criminal law, criminal law and Civil law (common law), civil law, each branch having its own Courts of England and Wales, ...

. In 1856, he defended the ''Scotsman'' in the libel action raised by

Duncan McLaren Duncan McLaren (12 January 1800 – 26 April 1886) was a Scottish Liberal Party politician and political writer. He served as a member of the burgh council of Edinburgh, then as Lord Provost, then as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Edinbu ...

, one of the members for the city of Edinburgh. In January 1857, Moncreiff was presented with the freedom of his native city for the part he took in regard to the Municipal Extension Act. In 1859 he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant of the newly formed 1st Queen's Edinburgh Rifle Volunteer Brigade (No 1 Company of which was recruited from Edinburgh advocates) – the first rifle volunteer corps in Scotland. He held the appointment until 1873 when he was appointed Honorary Colonel. In 1860, he helped pass the annuity tax bill, a subject in which, as a free churchman, he took close interest, and in the following year he carried the major bill relating to burgh and parochial schools. In 1861 he was engaged as leading counsel in the defence of Sir William Johnston, one of the directors of the Edinburgh and Glasgow bank, and in 1863-4 he was counsel in the famous Yelverton case. For 19 years Lord Moncreiff occupied the judicial bench, presiding over the trials in the justiciary court of Chantrelle (1878), the

City of Glasgow Bank The City of Glasgow Bank was a bank in Scotland that was largely known for its spectacular collapse in October 1878, which ruined all but 254 of its 1,200 shareholders since their liability was unlimited. History The bank was founded in 1839 ...

directors (1878), the dynamitards (1883), and the crofters (1886). Extrajudicially Moncreiff was occupied in many other matters. As a lecturer he was in great request, and delivered numerous orations in Edinburgh and Glasgow on subjects of literary, scientific, and political interest to the Philosophical Institution, Royal Society, Juridical Society, Scots Law Society, and other bodies. Moncreiff also published anonymously in 1871 a novel entitled ''A Visit to my Discontented Cousin'', which was reprinted, with additions, from ''

Fraser's Magazine ''Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country'' was a general and literary journal published in London from 1830 to 1882, which initially took a strong Tory line in politics. It was founded by Hugh Fraser and William Maginn in 1830 and loosely direc ...

''. He was also a frequent contributor to the ''

Edinburgh Review The ''Edinburgh Review'' is the title of four distinct intellectual and cultural magazines. The best known, longest-lasting, and most influential of the four was the third, which was published regularly from 1802 to 1929. ''Edinburgh Review'', ...

''. In 1858 Moncreiff received the honorary degree of LL.D. from the

. From 1868 to 1871 he was rector of the

from which he received a second honorary doctorate of LL.D. in 1879, and in 1869 he was appointed a member of the Privy Council. On 23 May 1871 he was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

of Kilduff in the County of Kinross in the

Baronetage of the United Kingdom Baronets are hereditary titles awarded by the Crown. The current baronetage of the United Kingdom has replaced the earlier, existing baronetages of England, Nova Scotia, Ireland and Great Britain. To be recognised as a baronet, it is necessary ...

. On 9 January 1874 he was created Baron Moncreiff, of Tulliebole in the

County of Kinross The County of Kinross or Kinross-shire is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county in eastern Scotland, administered as part of Perth and Kinross since 1975. Surrounding its largest settlement and county town of Kinross, t ...

in the

Peerage of the United Kingdom The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great B ...

; in 1878 he was appointed a royal commissioner under the Endowed Institutions (Scotland) Act, and in 1883 he succeeded his brother as 11th baronet of Moncreiff. In 1870 he was elected a Fellow 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 ...

his proposer was Charles Neaves. He was President of the Society 1879 to 1884. In 1875, he became the inaugural President of the conservationist group the

Cockburn Association The Cockburn Association, often subtitled Edinburgh Civic Trust, is an architectural, conservation, and urban planning monitoring organisation in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom. The Cockburn Association, founded in 1875, is one o ...

, a position he held until 1893. In September 1888, Moncreiff resigned the position of Lord Justice Clerk, and took up the preparation of his ''Memorials''. On these he was engaged till his death on 27 April 1895. He is buried with his wife in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and o ...

in west Edinburgh.

Artistic Recognition

A full length portrait by Sir George Reid hangs in Old Parliament Hall next to the Supreme Court of Scotland.

Family

On 12 September 1834 Moncreiff married Isabella Bell (d.1881), only daughter of Robert Bell

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". ...

(1781–1861), procurator of the Church of Scotland, and Sheriff of Berwickshire and Haddingtonshire. They lived at 47 Moray Place in the west end of

. They had two daughters and five sons. Their eldest son Henry Moncreiff, 2nd Baron Moncreiff sat from 1888 under the title of Lord Wellwood, as a Lord of Session.

References

;Attribution

External links

*
Portrait and family details
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moncreiff, James, Baron Moncreiff of Tulliebole 1811 births 1895 deaths Nobility from Edinburgh People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Lord advocates Deans of the Faculty of Advocates Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Scottish Liberal Party MPs Presidents of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Rectors of the University of Edinburgh Solicitors general for Scotland UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs who were granted peerages Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities Moncreiff Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Edinburgh constituencies Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria