Patrick Robertson, Lord Robertson (1794–1855) was a Scottish judge and

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

Born 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 ...

on 17 February 1794, he was the second son of James Robertson, writer to the signet (died 15 April 1820) and Mary Saunders. 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 ...

, and was called to the

Scottish bar 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 consti ...

on 27 May 1815, along with his friend John Wilson. He soon obtained a practice, both in 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 before the General Assembly. Robertston was commonly called by the diminutive "Peter", and was known as a wit. He was present at the theatrical fund dinner in Edinburgh on 23 Feb. 1827, when

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

acknowledged the authorship of the

Waverley novels The Waverley novels are a long series of novels by Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832). For nearly a century, they were among the most popular and widely read novels in Europe. Because Scott did not publicly acknowledge authorship until 1827, the se ...

; owing to the rotundity of his figure, Scott named him "Peter o' the Painch" for his rotund figure. In January 1838 Robertson defended the Glasgow cotton-spinners before the

High Court of Justiciary The High Court of Justiciary () is the supreme criminal court in Scotland. The High Court is both a trial court and a court of appeal. As a trial court, the High Court sits on circuit at Parliament House or in the adjacent former Sheriff C ...

at Edinburgh. On 29 November 1842 he was chosen Dean 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 ...

. Robertson was appointed an

ordinary lord of session The Outer House (abbreviated as CSOH in neutral citations) is one of the two parts of the Scottish Court of Session, which is the supreme civil court in Scotland. It is a court of first instance, although some statutory appeals are remitted to ...

in the place of Lord Meadowbank in November 1843, and took his seat on the bench as Lord Robertson. In 1848 he was elected by the students Lord Rector of Marischal College and University of Aberdeen, and received an honorary doctorate (LLD). He died suddenly, from

apoplexy Apoplexy () refers to the rupture of an internal organ and the associated symptoms. Informally or metaphorically, the term ''apoplexy'' is associated with being furious, especially as "apoplectic". Historically, it described what is now known as a ...

, at his house at 32 Drummond Place, Edinburgh, on 10 January 1855, aged 60. He was buried in the burial vault of

Robert Pont Robert Pont (the abbreviated form of Kylpont or Kynpont) (1529–1606) was a Church of Scotland minister, judge and reformer. He was a church minister, commissioner and a Senator of the College of Justice. His translation of the Helvetian ...

in St Cuthbert's churchyard at the west end of

Princes Street Princes Street () is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (three quar ...

,Monuments and monumental inscriptions in Scotland: The Grampian Society, 1871 on the 15th of the same month. A marble tablet was erected to his memory in

St Giles' Cathedral St Giles' Cathedral (), or the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town of Edinburgh. The current building was begun in the 14th century and extended until the early 16th century; ...

Works

Lockhart made several rhyming epitaphs on Scott, and wrote a vivid description of his mock-heroic speech at the Burns dinner of 1818. He was the author of t volumes of verse: *''Leaves from a Journal'' dinburgh 1844, privately printed. *''Leaves from a Journal and other Fragments in Verse'', London, 1845, including most of the previous. *''Gleams of Thought reflected from the Writings of Milton; Sonnets, and other Poems'', Edinburgh, 1847. *''Sonnets, reflective and descriptive, and other Poems'', Edinburgh, 1849. *''Sonnets, reflective and descriptive, Second Series'', Edinburgh, 1854. His speeches in the Stewarton case (1842) and the Strathbogie case (1843) were printed.

Family

Robertson married, on 8 April 1819, Mary Cameron, daughter of the Rev. Thomas Ross, D.D., minister of

Kilmonivaig Kilmonivaig () is a small village, situated close to the southeast end of Loch Lochy in Spean Bridge, Inverness-shire, Scottish Highlands and is in the Scottish council area of Highland. Fort William lies approximately 15 miles southwest of K ...

, Inverness-shire, by whom he had several children. His second son, Major-general Patrick Robertson-Ross, C.B., died at Boulogne on 23 July 1883, having assumed the additional surname of Ross on inheriting the property of his uncle, Lieutenant-general Hugh Ross of Glenmoidart, Inverness-shire, in 1865.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Patrick 1794 births 1855 deaths 19th-century Scottish judges Deans of the Faculty of Advocates Senators of the College of Justice People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh Rectors of the University of Aberdeen Lawyers from Edinburgh