Sir John Anstruther, 4th Baronet and 1st Baronet PC (27 March 1753 – 26 January 1811) 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 ...

politician. The second son of

Sir John Anstruther, 2nd Baronet Sir John Anstruther, 2nd Baronet (27 December 1718 – 4 July 1799) was a Scotland, Scottish industrialist and politician. He was the only surviving son of Sir John Anstruther, 1st Baronet (1700 creation), Sir John Anstruther, 1st Baronet, M.P., ...

, he was knighted in 1797, raised to the

Baronetage of Great Britain 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 ...

in 1798, and also succeeded as 4th Baronet in the

Baronetage of Nova Scotia 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 the death of his elder brother,

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...

, in 1808. He served as Member of Parliament for Anstruther Burghs, in

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

, from 1783 to 1790, 1796–1797 and 1806–1811, and for

Cockermouth Cockermouth is a market town and civil parish in the Cumberland unitary authority area of Cumbria, England. The name refers to the town's position by the confluence of the River Cocker into the River Derwent. At the 2021 census, the built u ...

, in

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

, from 1790 to 1796. He 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 1806.

Life

He was born on 27 March 1753, the second son of Sir John Anstruther of Elie House,

. He was educated at Glasgow University under John Millar, and called to the bar at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

in 1779. He practised chiefly before the House of Lords in Scotch appeals and was M.P. for Cockermouth, 1790–96. He was an active supporter of

Charles James Fox Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled ''The Honourable'' from 1762, was a British British Whig Party, Whig politician and statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centurie ...

, and one of the managers appointed to conduct the

Impeachment of Warren Hastings The impeachment of Warren Hastings, the first governor-general of the Bengal Presidency in India, was attempted between 1787 and 1795 in the Parliament of Great Britain. Hastings was accused of misconduct during his time in Calcutta, particularl ...

, his duty being to sum up the evidence on the charge relating to Benares, and to open the charge relating to presents. In 1797 he was appointed

Chief Justice of Bengal Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boat ...

and created a baronet in 1798. From 1799 to 1807 he was President of the

Asiatic Society The Asiatic Society is an organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of " Oriental research" (in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions). It was founded by the philologist Will ...

of Bengal. In 1806 he returned to Britain, was sworn on the privy council and re-entered parliament the same year as member for the Anstruther

district of burghs The Act of Union 1707 and pre-Union Scottish legislation provided for 14 Members of Parliament (MPs) from Scotland to be elected from districts of burghs. All the parliamentary burghs (burghs represented in the pre-Union Parliament of Scotland ...

. In 1808 he succeeded to his father's baronetcy in addition to his own. He died in London 26 January 1811 and was succeeded by his son Sir John Carmichael-Anstruther, 5th Baronet, who also took his place as MP for Anstruther Burghs.

Family

His daughter Marion Anstruther (1797-1859) married his nephew Robert Anstruther WS (1803-1867) and is buried with him 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 ...

.Anstruther grave, Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Anstruther, John, 4th Baronet 1753 births 1811 deaths Nobility from Fife Alumni of the University of Glasgow Members of Lincoln's Inn

204 __NOTOC__ Year 204 ( CCIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cilo and Flavius (or, less frequently, year 957 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 204 for th ...

Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 Cumbria MPs Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Fife constituencies UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 British India judges Presidents of The Asiatic Society 19th-century Scottish politicians John, 4th Baronet