William Adam of Blair Adam
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The Right Hon. William Adam of Blair Adam
His political career was affected by his father's periodic financial problems, as sometimes the family had substantial wealth and sometimes it was in difficulties, forcing Adam to concentrate his attention on his legal practice. He rose to be Lord Lieutenant of Kinross-shire.
His most important contribution to Scottish Law was probably the introduction of
Life
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William Adam was the only surviving son of Jean Ramsay and John Adam of Blairadam, architect and master mason to the Board of Ordnance in Scotland, of Maryburgh, Kinross. William's uncle was the architect Robert Adam.[1]
Blairadam House, where William was born, lies just north of
Adam represented a number of constituencies in Parliament. He was MP for the
In 1790–1794, he sat for Ross-shire. His last Parliamentary seat was Kincardineshire, which he represented from 1806 until he became a Judge in January 1812.
Adam took a very hard line on American issues in the early part of his political career. He was critical of his future political leader
Adam particularly disliked the leading opposition figure Charles James Fox. At one stage they fought a duel. He also attacked Fox verbally in Parliament.
Adam was appointed to the minor political office of Treasurer of the Ordnance. He held this office twice, first between September 1780 and May 1782 and again April–December 1783.
On 17–18 February 1783, Adam spoke and voted against peace with the United States. After that, despite his past animosity to Charles James Fox, Adam advocated the
Thereafter, he was less involved in politics as he developed his career at the English bar. Through his friendship with the
Adam was
During the
In 1832-33, his home address was 31 Charlotte Square in Edinburgh.[4]
He died in Edinburgh on 17 February 1839, and was buried at Greyfriars Kirkyard[5] He lies in the huge family vault built for his grandfather, William Adam the architect, facing his father, John Adam. The vault lies south-west of the church, in front of the Covenanters Prison.
Family
On 7 May 1777, William Adam married Eleanora Elphinstone (died 4 February 1800), daughter of Charles, 10th Lord Elphinstone. They had six children:
- John (4 May 1779 – 4 June 1825), civil servant of the East India Company, served as acting Governor-General of Indiain 1823.
- Charles (6 October 1780 – 16 September 1853), Admiral in the Royal Navy, MP,
- William George KC (6 December 1781 – 16 May 1839), lawyer, Accountant-General of the Court of Chancery.
- Governor of Madras1832–37.
- Francis James (24 March 1791 – 8 June 1820) died of yellow fever at sea with Charles
- Clementina (died 29 October 1877), married on 27 April 1807, John Anstruther-Thomson, DL, of Charleton, Fife.[6]
Notes
- ^ ISBN 978-0-902198-84-5. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
- ^ a b c Chisholm 1911.
- ^ Colvin, Howard (1978) A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600–1840, John Murray, p. 56
- ^ "Edinburgh Post Office annual directory, 1832–1833". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
- ^ Monuments and monumental inscriptions in Scotland, The Grampian Society, 1871
- ^ ""Adam, of Blair Adam", in Burke's Landed Gentry of Scotland, pp.3–4" (PDF). Retrieved 3 September 2007.
References
- History of Parliament: House of Commons 1754–1790, by Sir Lewis Namier and James Brooke (Sidgwick & Jackson 1964)
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 173–174.
- Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages [better source needed]