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 a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. The term was first used descriptively in W. M. Gilbert's ''Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century'' (1901), des ...

in Edinburgh, son of Margaret Stewart, youngest daughter of John Stewart of Blairhall and

David Rae, Lord Eskgrove Sir David Rae, Lord Eskgrove, 1st Baronet FRSE FSA (1724–1804) was a Scottish advocate and judge. Life He was the son of Agnes, daughter of Sir David Forbes of Newhall and Rev David Rae of St Andrews, an episcopalian minister. Some sources g ...

. He was educated at the High School in Edinburgh and studied law at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

from 1785, qualifying as an advocate in 1791. His first major role was as

Sheriff of Orkney and Shetland The Sheriff of Orkney and Shetland, also known as the Sheriff of Orkney and Zetland, was historically the royal official responsible for enforcing law and order in Orkney and Shetland, Scotland. The sheriffdom of Orkney and Shetland was creat ...

in 1801, but in 1809 he transferred to an equivalent post as

Sheriff of Edinburgh The Sheriff of Edinburgh was historically the royal official responsible for enforcing law and order and bringing criminals to justice in the shire of Edinburgh (also known as Edinburghshire or Midlothian) in Scotland. In 1482 the burgh of Edinbu ...

, which he held until 1819. He succeeded his father to the baronetcy in 1815. He was

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Anstruther Burghs, in

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

, 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-on- ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

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

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, from 1831 to 1832. He served as

Lord Advocate , body = , insignia = Crest of the Kingdom of Scotland.svg , insigniasize = 110px , image = File:Official Portrait of Dorothy Bain QC.png , incumbent = Dorothy Bain KC , incumbentsince = 22 June 2021 , appointer = Monarch on the advice ...

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. Fifteen people died when cavalry charged into a crowd of around 60,000 people who had gathered to demand the reform of parliament ...

, he reported to the Home Secretary,

Viscount Sidmouth Viscount Sidmouth, of Sidmouth in the County of Devon, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 12 January 1805 for the former prime minister, Henry Addington. In May 1804, King George III intended to confer the titl ...

, on radical unrest in Scotland. He was made a

Privy Councillor A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

on 19 July 1830. Grant's Old and New Edinburgh tells us that he was present at the

Great Edinburgh Fire The Great Fire of Edinburgh was one of the most destructive fires in the history of Edinburgh. It started on Monday, 15 November 1824, and lasted for five days, with two major phases. Sequence of events The fire broke out around 10pm on 15 No ...

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 Mortonhall is an area of Edinburgh, Scotland, on the south edge of the city. The area is along the western end of the Frogston Road between Fairmilehead and Gilmerton; it is just to the south of Liberton and the Braid Hills. The area was ...

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 Inveresk (Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic: ''Inbhir Easg'') is a village in East Lothian, Scotland situated to the south of Musselburgh. It has been designated a Conservation area (United Kingdom), conservation area since 1969. It is situated on s ...

. 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