John Inglis, Lord Glencorse
{{Short description|Scottish politician and judge (1810–1891)}}
{{other people|John Inglis}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
File:John Inglis, Lord Glencorse.jpg
File:Bust of John Inglis, Lord Glencorse, by Charles McBride, Old College, University of Edinburgh.jpg, 1893, Old College, University of Edinburgh]]
File:Memorial to John Inglis, Lord Glencorse, St Giles Cathedral.jpg
File:Lord Glencorse's vault, New Calton Cemetery.JPG
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).[http://www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk/biography/?id=WH1033&type=P John Inglis Lord Glencorse]. University of Glasgow (see "summary" for birth/death dates)
Life
The youngest son of Maria Moxham Passmore and Rev John Inglis DD (1761–1834), minister of Old Greyfriars Kirk,{{cite book
|last1=Waterston
|first1=Charles D
|last2=Macmillan Shearer
|first2=A
|title=Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002: Biographical Index
|url=http://www.rse.org.uk/fellowship/fells_indexp1.pdf
|access-date=27 December 2010
|volume=I
|date=July 2006
|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh
|location=Edinburgh
|isbn=978-0-902198-84-5
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004113545/http://www.rse.org.uk/fellowship/fells_indexp1.pdf
|archive-date= 4 October 2006
}} Inglis was born on 21 August 1810 at 43 George SquareEdinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1809–10 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.
Inglis 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,{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Glencorse, John Inglis, Lord|volume=12|pages=119–120}} 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.James Crabb Watt, John Inglis, Lord Justice-General of Scotland: A Memoir (1893), p. 333. 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. 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.
Inglis 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.Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1874
He died at Loganbank, a villa in Glencorse{{cite book|title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002|date=July 2006|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh|isbn=0-902-198-84-X|url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf|access-date=23 November 2016|archive-date=24 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124115814/http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf|url-status=dead}} south of Edinburgh on 20 August 1891, the day before his 81st birthday. 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), a judge and one of his senior colleagues. They had two sons, John David Inglis (1843–1861) and Harry Herbert Inglis {{post-nominals|country=GBR|WS}} (1848–1907).
Inglis employed Rev Robert Keith Dick Horne as private tutor to his children.Fasti Ecclesistae Scotia p. 9 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.{{cite web|url=http://collections.ed.ac.uk/art/record/19531|title="John Inglis, Lord Glencorse"}}
Notable cases
- In 1857 Inglis defended Madeleine Smith in a sensational murder trial.
- In 1865 Inglis presided over the case of the poisoner, Edward William Pritchard, the last person to be publicly hanged in Glasgow.
References
{{reflist}}
- This article includes material drawn from Concise Dictionary of National Biography, 1939
External links
- {{Internet Archive author |sname=John Inglis, Lord Glencorse}}
- {{hansard-contribs | mr-john-inglis | John Inglis }}
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{{succession box
| title = Member of Parliament for Stamford
| years = March 1858 – July 1858
| with = Lord Robert Cecil
| before = Sir Frederic Thesiger
Lord Robert Cecil
| after = Lord Robert Cecil
Sir Stafford Northcote, Bt.
}}
{{s-legal}}
{{succession box | title=Solicitor General for Scotland | before=George Deas | after=Charles Neaves| years=1852}}
{{succession box | title=Lord Advocate | before=Adam Anderson | after=James Moncreiff| years=May–December 1852}}
{{succession box | title=Lord Advocate | before=James Moncreiff | after=Charles Baillie| years=March–July 1858}}
{{succession box | title=Lord Justice Clerk | before=John Hope | after=Lord Glenalmond| years=1858–1867}}
{{succession box | title=Lord Justice General | before=Lord Colonsay| after=Lord Robertson| years=1867–1891}}
{{s-aca}}
{{succession box|title=Rector of the University of Glasgow|years=1865–1868|before=Viscount Palmerston|after=Earl of Derby}}
{{s-bef|before=Baron Brougham and Vaux}}
{{s-ttl|title=Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh
|years=1868–1891}}
{{s-aft|after=Arthur Balfour}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Inglis, John}}
Category:Politicians from Edinburgh
Category:People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh
Category:Alumni of the University of Glasgow
Category:Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
Category:Chancellors of the University of Edinburgh
Category:Rectors of the University of Aberdeen
Category:Rectors of the University of Glasgow
Category:Lords President of the Court of Session
Category:Lords Justice-General
Category:Members of the Faculty of Advocates
Category:Burials at the New Calton Burial Ground
Category:Solicitors general for Scotland