John Inglis, Lord Glencorse
Rt Hon John Inglis, Lord Glencorse
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, 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.[4] 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
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.
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.[5]
He died at Loganbank, a villa in
Family
In 1842 he was married to Isabella Mary Wood (1820–1855), daughter of
He employed Rev Robert Keith Dick Horne as private tutor to his children.[7] 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
A bust of Lord Glencorse, sculpted by Charles McBride, is held by the University of Edinburgh.[8]
Notable cases
- In 1857 Inglis defended Madeleine Smith in a sensational murder trial.[1]
- In 1865 Inglis presided over the case of the poisoner, Edward William Pritchard, the last person to be publicly hanged in Glasgow.
References
- ^ a b c John Inglis Lord Glencorse. University of Glasgow (see "summary" for birth/death dates)
- ISBN 978-0-902198-84-5. Archived from the original(PDF) on 4 October 2006. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
- ^ Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1809–10
- ^ James Crabb Watt, John Inglis, Lord Justice-General of Scotland: A Memoir (1893), p. 333.
- ^ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1874
- ^ ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original(PDF) on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
- ^ Fasti Ecclesistae Scotia p. 9
- ^ ""John Inglis, Lord Glencorse"".
- This article includes material drawn from Concise Dictionary of National Biography, 1939