Sir William Rae, 3rd Baronet (14 April 1769 – 19 October 1842), was a Scottish politician and lawyer.

Life

He was born at Old Assembly Close off the

Royal Mile The Royal Mile () is the nickname of a series of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. The term originated in the early 20th century and has since entered popular usage. The Royal ...

in Edinburgh, son of Margaret Stewart, youngest daughter of John Stewart of Blairhall and David Rae, Lord Eskgrove. He was educated at the High School in Edinburgh and 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 ...

from 1785, qualifying as an advocate in 1791. His first major role was as Sheriff of Orkney and Shetland in 1801, but in 1809 he transferred to an equivalent post as Sheriff of Edinburgh, which he held until 1819. He succeeded his father to the baronetcy in 1815. He was 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 1819 to 1826,

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-o ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, from 1827 to 1830, Buteshire in 1830 and from 1833 to 1842, and for Portarlington, Queen's County,

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, from 1831 to 1832. He served as

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 1819 to 1830 and from 1834 to 1835. In the aftermath of the

Peterloo Massacre The Peterloo Massacre took place at St Peter's Field, Manchester, Lancashire, England, on Monday 16 August 1819. Eighteen people died and 400–700 were injured when the cavalry of the Yeomen charged into a crowd of around 60,000 people who ...

, he reported to the Home Secretary, Viscount Sidmouth, on radical unrest in Scotland. He was made a Privy Councillor on 19 July 1830. Grant's Old and New Edinburgh tells us that he was present at the Great Edinburgh Fire of 1824, actively trying to extinguish the flames of the building on the

at the head of Old Assembly Close as it was "the house of his birth".Grants Old and New Edinburgh He died aged 73 at St Catherines, near Mortonhall in south Edinburgh on 18 October 1842. He is buried with his father and mother on the south-west corner of St Michael's church in Inveresk. The stone is modest.

Family

In 1793 he married Mary Stuart.

Sources

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rae, Sir William, 3rd Baronet 1769 births 1842 deaths Scottish lawyers Lord advocates Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Fife constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Portarlington Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1841–1847 Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Scottish sheriffs