Alexander Maconochie, Lord Meadowbank
Lord Meadowbank | |
|---|---|
_of_Meadowbank_MET_DP162164.jpg) Portrait of Lord Meadowbank by Sir Henry Raeburn | |
| Lord of session and justiciary | |
| In office 24 June 1819 – 1843 | |
| Member of Parliament | |
| In office 1818–1819 | |
| Preceded by | Sir John Anstruther |
| Succeeded by | Sir William Rae, Bt. |
| Constituency | Anstruther Burghs |
| In office 1817–1818 Serving with John Leslie Foster | |
| Preceded by | Richard Wellesley John Leslie Foster |
| Succeeded by | John Copley John Leslie Foster |
| Constituency | Yarmouth |
| Lord Advocate | |
| In office 1816–1819 | |
| Preceded by | Archibald Colquhoun |
| Succeeded by | Sir William Rae, Bt. |
| Solicitor General for Scotland | |
| In office 1813–1816 | |
| Preceded by | David Monypenny |
| Succeeded by | James Wedderburn |
| Sheriff of Haddington | |
| In office 1810–1813 | |
| Preceded by | John Burnett |
| Succeeded by | William Home |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Alexander Maconochie 2 March 1777 Midlothian, Scotland, Great Britain |
| Died | 30 November 1861 (aged 84) Meadowbank House, Kirknewton, West Lothian, Scotland, United Kingdom |
| Spouse |
Anne Blair (m. 1805) |
| Children | Allan Alexander Maconochie Welwood of Meadowbank and Garvock |
| Parents |
|
| Education | Royal High School University of Edinburgh |
| Occupation | Advocate, Judge, Politician |
The Right Honourable Alexander Maconochie, Lord Meadowbank of Garvock and Pitliver FRSE, FSA Scot (2 March 1777–30 November 1861), was a Scottish advocate, judge, landowner and politician. After 1854 he took the surname Maconochie-Welwood.
Life
Maconochie was born on 2 March 1777 in "Society" a district in south Edinburgh, Midlothian (now known as the Pleasance), the eldest son of Elizabeth Welwood of Garvock and Allan Maconochie, Lord Meadowbank. He was educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh, and probably at the University of Edinburgh. He was admitted as an advocate in 1799, and in 1800 admitted to the Highland Society.
He served as Sheriff of Haddington from 1810 and Solicitor General for Scotland from 1813, and as Lord Advocate from 1816 to 1819.
He was Member of Parliament for Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, England, from 1817–1818, and for the Kilrenny district of Anstruther Burghs from 1818 to 1819. He made his Parliamentary debut during a period of considerable unrest in both Scotland and England in 1817, choosing to mark it by announcing the existence of a seditious conspiracy of weavers in the suburbs of Glasgow. The ensuing prosecutions were spectacularly unsuccessful, however, and caused considerable embarrassment, both to the government and to Maconochie himself, who, as Lord Advocate, was directly responsible.
In 1817 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Sir William Arbuthnot, 1st Baronet, Thomas Allan, Sir David Brewster and Sir Henry Jardine. He served as a Councillor of the Society during 1822-5 (Literary section) and 1835–7.[1]
In February 1827 he co-founded the Edinburgh Theatrical Fund with Sir Walter Scott and served as its first President. This body provided funds for "the relief of decayed actors".[2]
In the 1830s, his address is listed as 13 Royal Circus Edinburgh's New Town.[3]
In part because of his rather indifferent record, especially after further embarrassment in the Court of Session in 1819, he was appointed a lord of session and justiciary as Lord Meadowbank 1819, and resigned in 1843. With the same title as his father, he was subject of one of Scots law's better puns. When he quizzed one advocate as to the difference between 'likewise and also', he received the reply that just as his father had been Lord Meadowbank, so was he, 'also but not likewise'.
He assumed the additional surname of Welwood on succeeding to his cousin's estates in 1854.
Maconochie-Welwood died on 30 November 1861 at Meadowbank House (now named Kirknewton House), Kirknewton, West Lothian, and was interred at a private burial ground at Meadowbank House.
Artistic Patronage
He was patron to the Edinburgh artist William Crawford.[4]
Family
In 1805 he married Anne Blair the eldest daughter of Lord President Robert Blair, Lord Avontoun.[5] The couple had children including Allan Alexander Maconochie FRSE (1806–1885).[5]
His daughter Mary Anne Maconochie married Steuart Bayley Hare of Calderhall, father of Lt Col Hare.[6]
References
- ^ Waterston, Charles D; Macmillan Shearer, Angus (July 2006). Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783-2002: Biographical Index (PDF). Vol. II. Edinburgh: The Royal Society of Edinburgh. ISBN 9780902198845. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
- ^ Grant's Old and New Edinburgh vol.2 p.350
- ^ "Edinburgh Post Office annual directory, 1832-1833". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 25 July 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ 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 4 March 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
- ^ Logie: A Parish History Menzies Fergusson 1905
External links
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
- 1777 births
- 1861 deaths
- 19th-century Scottish judges
- People from Midlothian
- People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh
- Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
- Members of the Faculty of Advocates
- Scottish sheriffs
- Lord Advocates
- Solicitors General for Scotland
- Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
- Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
- Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Fife constituencies
- Scottish antiquarians
- Senators of the College of Justice
- Scottish landowners
- UK MPs 1812–1818
- UK MPs 1818–1820
- Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland