John Campbell, Lord Stonefield
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The Hon John Campbell, Lord Stonefield
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". ...
(c. 1720–1801) was an 18th-century Scottish lawyer who rose to be 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 ...
.


Life

He was born around 1720 the son of Mrs Jane Ogilvie or Ogilvy (née Frend, Freend or Friend) (1701-1771). Her husband at that time was Cpt Alexander Ogilvy of Forglen. Cpt Ogilvy (b.1687) was the son of Sir Alexander Ogilvy, 1st Baronet of Forglen. However other sources give Captain Ogilvy's father as Alexander Campbell of Stonefield (implying illegitimacy). Captain Ogilvy died "before" 1727. The absence of mention of this in John's later records suggests that John too was illegitimate. But he was presumably originally named John Ogilvy. His mother Jane was the daughter of Benjamin Frend and was of Irish descent. The connection to Sir Alexander Ogilvy would make him the illegitimate half-brother of Sir Alexander Ogilvy, 7th Lord Banff. In 1732 his mother (certainly widowed but perhaps also disgraced) married Archibald Campbell (1697-1777) of Stonefield in
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 ...
. If the second source of Captain Ogilvy's fatherhood is correct this would mean she married her husband's half-brother. If young John was indeed the son of Alexander Campbell, this complicated relationship would make him half-brother of his own (adoptive) father. As a third, and perhaps more logical conclusion, Archibald was perhaps truly the biological father of John, but conceived very young and definitely out of wedlock. Either way, Archibald Campbell appears to have raised John as his own son, and his presumed birth-name of John Ogilvy disappears and is deliberately obscured. Archibald was a lawyer who became Sheriff of Argyllshire. John trained as a lawyer and passed the Scottish bar as an advocate in 1748. In 1753 he became Sheriff of
Forfarshire Angus (; ) is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Dundee City and Perth and Kinross. Main industries include agriculture and fishing. Global pharmaceuticals ...
. In 1756 he bought Elphinstone Court in Edinburgh, the home of the late
Peter Wedderburn, Lord Chesterhall The Hon Peter Wedderburn, Lord Chesterhall (c. 1700–11 August 1756) was an 18th-century Scottish lawyer who rose to be a Senator of the College of Justice. Life He was born in Glassford (possibly at Glassford Castle) in Lanarkshire around 170 ...
, whose son
Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...
had inherited the property but had no use for it, as he worked in London. In 1763 he became 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 ...
on the death of
Charles Erskine, Lord Tinwald Charles Erskine also spelled Areskine (1680 – 5 April 1763), of Tinwald and Barjarg, Dumfries, and Alva, Clackmannan was Lord Advocate, a Scottish judge, and a politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1722 to 1742. Life Erskine ...
. He served this role for 38 years, one of the longest serving Senators. Around 1765/1770 (on its initial construction) he moved to George Square on the south side of Edinburgh. in 1783 he was a founding 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 ...
. In 1784 he became Director of the Highland Society. In 1787 he became a Lord of the Justiciary. He died at 11
George Square, Edinburgh George Square () is a city square in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is in the south of the city centre, adjacent to the Meadows. It was laid out in 1766 outside the overcrowded Old Town, and was a popular residential area for Edinburgh's better-off c ...
on 19 June 1801. Following his death his place as Senator was filled by Alexander Fraser Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee. His obituary in The Scots Magazine, 01 Jun 1801, p73 reads: ''DIED. 19. At Edinburgh, the Hon. John Campbell of Stonefield, one of the Senators of the College of Justice. Lord Stonefield sat as one of the Judge of the Court of Session exactly thirty-nine years, having been appointed to the Bench on 16 June 1762. He succeeded Lord Tinwald, who was named one of the Judge in 1744, on the decease of Lord Royston, the latter having been appointed so far back as the 1710. These three Judges, therefore, sat on the Bench in succession to each other upwards of ninety years. Lord Stonefield was for some time one of the Lords of Justiciary, but he resigned that situation a considerable time ago.''


Family

Around 1750 he was married to Grace Stuart (1725-1783), sister of
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (; 25 May 1713 – 10 March 1792), styled Lord Mount Stuart between 1713 and 1723, was a British Tory statesman who served as the Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1762 to 1763 under George III. He became the ...
. Their children included Lt Col John Campbell of Stonefield and Col Colin Campbell of Stonefield (d.1839). In 1791, following Grace's death, he married Miss Phoebe Lloyd (c. 1756-29 Sep 1818), who was buried at St George's Hanover Square in London.


Artistic Recognition

He was portrayed by
Allan Ramsay Allan Ramsay may refer to: *Allan Ramsay (poet) or Allan Ramsay the Elder (1686–1758), Scottish poet *Allan Ramsay (artist) Allan Ramsay (13 October 171310 August 1784) was a Scottish portrait Painting, painter. Life and career Ramsay w ...
in 1849. He was portrayed by David Martin around 1770. He was portrayed in later life by John Kay in 1799.


References

a {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, John 1801 deaths People from Argyll and Bute 18th-century Scottish judges Senators of the College of Justice Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh