John Clerk, Lord Eldin

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 (1757– 30 May 1832) was a Scottish judge based 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 ...

Life

He was the eldest son of Susannah Adam, the sister of John Adam and

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (architect), William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and train ...

, and John Clerk of Eldin, son of John Clerk of Penicuik. He was born in April 1757 in

. Though originally intended for the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...

, he was apprenticed to a

Writer to the Signet The Society of Writers to His Majesty's Signet is a private society of Scottish solicitors, dating back to 1594 and part of the College of Justice. Writers to the Signet originally had special privileges in relation to the drawing up of documen ...

. After serving his articles he practised for a year or two as an accountant, and eventually 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 3 December 1785. At this point he is listed as living on Hanover Street in Edinburgh's First New Town. 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 ...

in 1784. He was also a member of the exclusive

Bannatyne Club The Bannatyne Club, named in honour of George Bannatyne and his famous anthology of Scots literature the Bannatyne Manuscript, was a text publication society founded by Sir Walter Scott to print rare works of Scottish interest, whether in history ...

. These drunken affairs resulted in his falling downstairs and breaking his nose after one meeting. He had an extensive practice at the bar. A keen Whig, on 11 March 1806 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 the Grenville administration, an office which he held during the year that the ministry lasted. His practice at the bar had been for some time falling off, and his health had already begun to fail, when, on 10 November 1823, he was appointed an ordinary

Lord of Session 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 ...

in place of William Bannatyne, Lord Bannatyne. Assuming the title of Lord Eldin, he took his seat on the bench 22 November; but his health was poor. After five years of judicial work he resigned in 1828 due to ill-health, and was succeeded by John Fullerton, Lord Fullerton. His final years were spent surrounded by cats, with at least six at any time. Section of Lasswade old kirk used as the Eldin vault

Section of Lasswade old kirk used as the Eldin vault

His father, his uncle

George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

and he himself were friends of the geologist

James Hutton James Hutton (; 3 June Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. 1726 – 26 March 1797) was a Scottish geologist, Agricultural science, agriculturalist, chemist, chemical manufacturer, Natural history, naturalist and physician. Often referred to a ...

. On his father's death in 1812 he inherited the small estate of Eldin near

Bonnyrigg Bonnyrigg is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, which is southeast of Edinburgh city centre, between the Rivers North and South Esk. The town had a population of 14,663 in the 2001 census which rose to 15,677 in the 2011 census, both figures b ...

. Clerk died unmarried at his house at 16 Picardy Place, Edinburgh, on 30 May 1832. He was buried with his ancestors in the Eldin vault in the Old Kirk of

Lasswade Lasswade is a village and civil parish in Midlothian, Scotland, on the River North Esk, south of Edinburgh city centre, contiguous with Bonnyrigg and between Dalkeith to the east and Loanhead to the west. Melville Castle lies to the north ...

, just south of Edinburgh. His collection of pictures and prints was sold by auction at his Picardy Place house in March 1833; a serious accident occurred, the floor giving way and dropping from first floor to ground floor due to the number of people in attendance. Many were injured and one, a banker called Smith, was killed. The small Eldin estate owned by Clerk passed to his brother William Clerk a court clerk, after his death, who in turn bequeathed in to Edinburgh advocate, Charles Ross.Kay's Originals vol.2 p.441

Artistic recognition

He was portrayed by his close neighbour on York Place,

Henry Raeburn Sir Henry Raeburn (; 4 March 1756 – 8 July 1823) was a Scottish portrait painter. He served as Portrait Painter to King George IV in Scotland. Biography Raeburn was born the son of a manufacturer in Stockbridge, on the Water of Leith: a f ...

References

;Attribution

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clerk, John 1757 births 1832 deaths

Eldin Eldin is a masculine given name and surname. In the Balkans, Eldin is popular among Bosniaks in the former Yugoslavia, Yugoslav nations. The name is a modification to the suffix component ad-Din, and it holds the same meanings of religion, fai ...

Solicitors general for Scotland Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Lawyers from Edinburgh Paintings by Henry Raeburn Fellows_of_the_Society_of_Antiquaries_of_London