John Inglis, Lord Glencorse

For other people named John Inglis, see John Inglis (disambiguation).

Lord President Inglis
Bust of John Inglis, Lord Glencorse, by Charles McBride, 1893, Old College, University of Edinburgh
Memorial to John Inglis, Lord Glencorse, St Giles Cathedral
Lord Glencorse's vault, New Calton Cemetery

Rt Hon John Inglis, Lord Glencorse FRSE DCL LLD (21 August 1810 – 20 August 1891) was a Scottish politician and judge. He was Lord President of the Court of Session (1867–1891).[1]

Life

The youngest son of Maria Moxham Passmore and Rev John Inglis DD (1761–1834), minister of Old Greyfriars Kirk,[2] Inglis was born on 21 August 1810 at 43 George Square[3] in Edinburgh. He attended the High School in Edinburgh. He then studied law at the University of Glasgow from whence he went to Balliol College, Oxford. He graduated with a BA in 1834 and an MA in 1836.

He was admitted a member of the Faculty of Advocates in 1835, and in 1852 he was made Solicitor General for Scotland in Lord Derby's first ministry, three months later becoming Lord Advocate,[4] a post he held from May to December of that year. In the summer of 1857, he famously served as counsel for Madeleine Smith, a Glasgow socialite who was the defendant in a sensational murder trial.[5] Smith was freed with a verdict of "not proven".

In March 1858 he resumed this office in Lord Derby's second administration, being returned to the House of Commons as member for Stamford. Again his tenure was brief, leaving office in July 1858. He was responsible for the Universities (Scotland) Act 1858, and in the same year he was elevated to the bench as Lord Justice Clerk, with the judicial title Lord Glencorse. In 1867 he was made Lord Justice General of Scotland and Lord President of the Court of Session.[4] He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1859, and awarded a Doctor of Civil Law (DCL) by the University of Oxford in 1859.

Outside his judicial duties he was responsible for much useful public work, particularly in the department of higher education. In 1869 he was elected Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh against Gladstone, having already been Rector of the University of Aberdeen in 1857–1860 and Rector of the University of Glasgow in 1865.[4]

He was President of Scottish Texts Society and published Historical Study of Law 1863.

His Edinburgh address in later life was 30 Abercromby Place in Edinburgh's New Town.[6]

He died at Loganbank, a villa in Glencorse[7] south of Edinburgh on 20 August 1891, the day before his 81st birthday.[1] He is buried in his family vault in New Calton Cemetery.

Family

In 1842 he married Isabella Mary Wood (1820–1855), daughter of Alexander Wood, Lord Wood FRSE (1788–1864),[7] a judge and one of his senior colleagues. They had two sons, John David Inglis (1843–1861) and Harry Herbert Inglis WS (1848–1907).

He employed Rev Robert Keith Dick Horne as private tutor to his children.[8] Horne was later minister of Corstorphine Old Parish Church in west Edinburgh.

Memorials

A memorial to Lord Glencorse (in the Jacobean style) stands in the south-east corner of St Giles Cathedral on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, above the stairway from the church to the crypt, near the entrance to the Thistle Chapel.

A bust of Lord Glencorse, sculpted by Charles McBride, is held by the University of Edinburgh.[9]

Notable cases

References

  1. ^ a b c John Inglis Lord Glencorse. University of Glasgow (see "summary" for birth/death dates)
  2. ^ Waterston, Charles D; Macmillan Shearer, A (July 2006). Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002: Biographical Index (PDF). Vol. I. Edinburgh: The Royal Society of Edinburgh. ISBN 978-0-902198-84-5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 October 2006. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
  3. ^ Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1809–10
  4. ^ a b c  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Glencorse, John Inglis, Lord". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 119–120.
  5. ^ James Crabb Watt, John Inglis, Lord Justice-General of Scotland: A Memoir (1893), p. 333.
  6. ^ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1874
  7. ^ a b Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  8. ^ Fasti Ecclesistae Scotia p. 9
  9. ^ ""John Inglis, Lord Glencorse"".
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Stamford
March 1858 – July 1858
With: Lord Robert Cecil 		Succeeded by
Legal offices
Preceded by Solicitor General for Scotland
1852 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Advocate
May–December 1852 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Advocate
March–July 1858 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Justice Clerk
1858–1867 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Justice General
1867–1891 		Succeeded by
Academic offices
Preceded by Rector of the University of Glasgow
1865–1868 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh
1868–1891 		Succeeded by