Ilay Campbell, Lord Succoth

Sir Ilay Campbell, 1st Baronet, Lord Succoth, FRSE (1734–1823) was a Scottish advocate, judge and politician. He rose to be Lord President of the Court of Session.

Lord Succoth
Portrait by David Martin
Lord President of the Court of Session
Lord Justice General
In office
26 October 1789 – 31 August 1808
Appointed byGeorge III
Preceded byLord Glenlee
Succeeded byRobert Blair
Member of Parliament for Glasgow Burghs
In office
1784–1790
Preceded byJohn Craufurd
Succeeded byJohn Craufurd
Lord Advocate
In office
1784–1790
Preceded byThe Hon Henry Erskine
Succeeded byRobert Dundas
Solicitor General for Scotland
In office
1783–1784
Preceded byAlexander Murray
Succeeded byRobert Blair
Personal details
Born1734
Died1823 (aged 89)
Political partyPittite
ProfessionAdvocate, Judge, Politician

Life

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Campbell's birthplace is given as either Argyll or Edinburgh. His mother was Helen Wallace, and his father, Archibald Campbell of Succoth, Principal Clerk of Session to the Scottish Courts.[1]

He attended Mundell's School in Edinburgh[2] and then the University of Glasgow to study law, graduating in 1751.

An advocate from 1757, he was engaged in the Douglas peerage case from 1764 to 1769. in September 1759 Campbell was admitted as an elder of Old Kilpatrick parish.[3] On 26th January 1777 his home on the second floor of a tenement in Old Bank Close, Edinburgh, was damaged in a fire.[4]

Campbell was appointed Solicitor General for Scotland in 1783 and Lord Advocate in 1784. He became Member of Parliament for Glasgow Burghs in the same year. He was Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General from 1789 to 1808, where he sat as Lord Succoth.

On his resignation in 1808, he was created a baronet,[5] and resided at Garscube House,[6] about four miles from Glasgow on the banks of the river Kelvin. There he engaged in the management of his estate, and the performance of his duties as a country gentleman. Lord Cockburn says of him that "he lived like a patriarch in a house overflowing with company, beloved by troops of relations, and courted for his character and hospitality by many friends."

Campbell was awarded an honorary doctorate (LLD) from the University of Glasgow in 1784, and elected Lord Rector of the university in 1799. He died at Garscube in 1823 aged 89.

Campbell was succeeded by his son Archibald, also a Senator of the College of Justice under the same title of Lord Succoth.

It is worth observing that the title "Lord Succoth" derived from the 1st and 2nd baronets' status as law lords rather than as Lords of Parliament. As such, the title "Lord Succoth" was not hereditable. The honorific "The Much Honoured" references a feudal barony ("of Succoth"). Sir Ilay's descendants remained baronets until the extinction of the baronetcy in 2017.[7]

Family

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Campbell married Susan Mary Murray of Murrayfield, sister of Alexander Murray, Lord Henderland[8] in 1766. She lived until 1815.

Their daughter, Margaret Campbell, married Sir John Connell, Judge of the Admiralty Court, and their son, Arthur Connell FRSE (Campbell's grandson) was a chemist who discovered connellite.[1]

Their daughter Elizabeth Campbell (d.1853) married William Dalziell Colquhoun. Their daughter Mary Frances Campbell died in 1870 without marrying. These two sisters are buried in Dean Cemetery.

Their daughter Susan married Crauford Tait WS of Harvieston and they were parents to Archibald Campbell Tait who became Archbishop of Canterbury.[9]

Positions of note

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References

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  1. ^ a b C D Waterston; A Macmillan Shearer (July 2006). Former Fellows of The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1783–2002: Part 1 (A–J) (PDF). ISBN 090219884X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2015. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  2. ^ "CAMPBELL, Ilay (1734–1823), of Succoth, Argyll. – History of Parliament Online".
  3. ^ Bruce, John (1893). History of the Parish of West or Old Kilpatrick (1995 ed.). Glasgow: John Smith & Son, Glasgow (published 1995). p. 111. ISBN 0906938112.
  4. ^ Melvin, Eric (2017), The Edinburgh of John Kay: Portraits and Tales of Everyday Life in Edinburgh's Golden Age, Eric Melvin, Edinburgh, pp. 56 & 57, ISBN 9780995637801
  5. ^ "No. 16179". The London Gazette. 3 September 1808. p. 1214.
  6. ^ XLVI. Garscube Glasgow Digital Library: The old country houses of the old Glasgow gentry
  7. ^ "Obituary: Sir Ilay Campbell of Succoth, gardening and heraldry expert". scotsman.com. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  8. ^ "MURRAY, Alexander (1736–95), of Murrayfield, Edinburgh, and Henderland, Peebles. – History of Parliament Online".
  9. ^ "Robert Burns Country: The Burns Encyclopedia: Tait, Crawford or Crauford (1765? - 1832)".
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Glasgow Burghs
1784–1790
Succeeded by
Legal offices
Preceded by Solicitor General for Scotland
1783–1784
Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Advocate
1784–1789
Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Justice General
1789–1808
Succeeded by
Academic offices
Preceded by Rector of the University of Glasgow
1779–1801
Succeeded by
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baronet
(of Succoth)
1808–1823
Succeeded by