Andrew Rutherfurd
Encyclopedia
Crosshill
Crosshill is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated south of the River Clyde. In earlier maps the area is called Corsehill, which means Gorse hill, so the name is probably a corruption of this earlier name, and does not refer to a cross...
FRSE (1791 – 1852) was a Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
advocate, judge and politician.
His father was the minister William Greenfield
William Greenfield (Minister)
William Greenfield was a Scottish minister, literary critic, author and mathematician whose career ended in scandal, resulting in him being excommunicated from the Church of Scotland, having his university degrees withdrawn, and his family assuming the name Rutherfurd.He served as joint-minister...
but the family changed their name to Rutherfurd, his mother's name (Janet Rutherfurd, Mrs Bervie), in 1799 after his father was disgraced in a sex scandal.
Educated at the Royal High School and Edinburgh University, he became an advocate
Advocate
An advocate is a term for a professional lawyer used in several different legal systems. These include Scotland, South Africa, India, Scandinavian jurisdictions, Israel, and the British Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man...
in 1812. He was appointed Solicitor General for Scotland
Solicitor General for Scotland
Her Majesty's Solicitor General for Scotland is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, and the deputy of the Lord Advocate, whose duty is to advise the Crown and the Scottish Government on Scots Law...
from 1837, becoming Lord Advocate
Lord Advocate
Her Majesty's Advocate , known as the Lord Advocate , is the chief legal officer of the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for both civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolved powers of the Scottish Parliament...
in 1839 and Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Leith burghs
Leith Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)
-References:...
in the same year. He resigned office in September 1841 on William Peel
William Yates Peel
William Yates Peel , was a British Tory politician.Peel was the second son of Sir Robert Peel, 1st Baronet, and his first wife Ellen . He was the younger brother of Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, and the elder brother of Jonathan Peel. He was educated at Harrow and St John's College,...
's accession to power. He was appointed Rector of Glasgow University in 1844.
He played an active part in parliamentary proceedings relating to Scotland, and proposed the repeal of the Corn Laws
Corn Laws
The Corn Laws were trade barriers designed to protect cereal producers in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland against competition from less expensive foreign imports between 1815 and 1846. The barriers were introduced by the Importation Act 1815 and repealed by the Importation Act 1846...
in 1846. He was reappointed Lord Advocate in 1846, and was responsible for legislation amending the law of entail in Scotland in 1848. He served on the Royal Commission on the British Museum
Royal Commission on the British Museum
The Royal Commission on the British Museum was set up to review the activities of the British Museum particularly in relation to its Library....
(1847–49). He was appointed a Senator of the College of Justice
Senator of the College of Justice
The Senators of the College of Justice are judges of the College of Justice, a set of legal institutions involved in the administration of justice in Scotland. There are three types of Senator: Lords of Session ; Lords Commissioner of Justiciary ; and the Chairman of the Scottish Land Court...
, as Lord Rutherfurd and a Privy Counsellor in 1851.