David Rae, Lord Eskgrove
Encyclopedia
Life
He was the son of David Rae of St AndrewsSt Andrews
St Andrews is a university town and former royal burgh on the east coast of Fife in Scotland. The town is named after Saint Andrew the Apostle.St Andrews has a population of 16,680, making this the fifth largest settlement in Fife....
, an episcopalian minister, by his wife Agnes, daughter of Sir David Forbes of Newhall. He was educated at the grammar school of Haddington, and at the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
, where he attended the law lectures of John Erskine of Carnock
John Erskine of Carnock
John Erskine of Carnock was a Scottish jurist and professor of Scottish law at the University of Edinburgh...
.
He was admitted a member of the Faculty of Advocates
Faculty of Advocates
The Faculty of Advocates is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary...
on 11 December 1751, and quickly acquired a practice. In 1753 he was retained in an appeal to the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
, which brought him up to London, where he became acquainted with Lord Hardwicke and his son Charles Yorke
Charles Yorke
Charles Yorke was Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.-Life:The second son of Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke, he was born in London, and was educated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. His literary abilities were shown at an early age by his collaboration with his brother Philip in the...
. He was appointed one of the commissioners for collecting evidence in the Douglas case
Archibald James Edward Douglas, 1st Baron Douglas
Archibald James Edward Douglas, 1st Baron Douglas , was a Scottish politician.-Birth:He was born Archibald James Edward Stewart, in Paris, the twin son of Sir John Stewart, 3rd Baronet and Lady Jane Douglas , daughter of James Douglas, 2nd Marquess of Douglas. The circumstances of the birth were...
, and in that capacity accompanied James Burnett to France in September 1764. He was the leading advocate in the Scottish court of exchequer for many years.
He became a Lord of Session
Court of Session
The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland, and constitutes part of the College of Justice. It sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh and is both a court of first instance and a court of appeal....
on 14 November 1782, succeeding Alexander Boswell, Lord Auchinleck, and a Lord of Justiciary
High Court of Justiciary
The High Court of Justiciary is the supreme criminal court of Scotland.The High Court is both a court of first instance and a court of appeal. As a court of first instance, the High Court sits mainly in Parliament House, or in the former Sheriff Court building, in Edinburgh, but also sits from time...
on 20 April 1785, taking the judicial title Lord Eskgrove (from a small estate which he possessed near Inveresk
Inveresk
Inveresk is a civil parish and was formerly a village that now forms the southern part of Musselburgh. It is situated on slightly elevated ground at the south of Musselburgh in East Lothian, Scotland...
), in place of Robert Bruce of Kennet. Rae was one of the judges who tried William Brodie
William Brodie
William Brodie , more commonly known by his prestigious title of Deacon Brodie, was a Scottish cabinet-maker, deacon of the trades guild and Edinburgh city councillor, who maintained a secret life as a burglar, partly for the thrill, and partly to fund his gambling.-Career:By day, Brodie was a...
(d. 1788) for robbing the General Excise Office in August 1788, the Rev. Thomas Fyshe Palmer
Thomas Fyshe Palmer
Thomas Fyshe Palmer was an English-born Unitarian minister, political reformer and political exile.-Early life:Palmer was born in Ickwell, Bedfordshire, England, the son of Henry Fyshe who assumed the added name of Palmer because of an inheritance, and Elizabeth, daughter of James Ingram of...
for seditious practices in September 1793, William Skirving
William Skirving
William Skirving was one of the five Scottish Martyrs for Liberty. Active in the cause of universal franchise and other reforms inspired by the French Revolution, they were convicted of sedition in 1793-94, and sentenced to transportation to New South Wales.-Early life and farming:William Skirving...
and Maurice Margarot
Maurice Margarot
Maurice Margarot is most notable for being one of the founding members of the London Corresponding Society, a radical society demanding parliamentary reform in the late eighteenth century.-Early life:...
for sedition in January 1794, Joseph Gerrald
Joseph Gerrald
Joseph Gerrald was a political reformer, one of the "Scottish Martyrs".-Early life:Gerrald was born on Saint Kitts, in the West Indies, the only son of an Irish planter. Gerrald was brought to England whilst still a child and educated at Stanmore school, under Dr. Samuel Parr, where he showed...
for sedition in March 1794, and Robert Watt and David Downie for high treason
High treason
High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...
in September 1794.
He was appointed Lord Justice Clerk
Lord Justice Clerk
The Lord Justice Clerk is the second most senior judge in Scotland, after the Lord President of the Court of Session.The holder has the title in both the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary and is in charge of the Second Division of Judges in the Court of Session...
on 1 June 1799, in place of Robert Macqueen, Lord Braxfield
Robert Macqueen, Lord Braxfield
Robert McQueen, Lord Braxfield was a Scottish lawyer and judge.McQueen was born near Lanark, son of John McQueen of Braxfield.He studied in Edinburgh and was called to the Bar in 1744. In 1759 he was appointed an Advocate Depute appearing for the Crown in prosecutions. He often appeared in more...
, holding office until his death. He was created a baronet on 27 June 1804. He died on 23 October the same year, and was interred in Inveresk Kirkyard.
Reputation
Rae is remembered by Lord Henry Cockburn in his book Memorials of His Time (published posthumously in 1856), as a “considerable lawyer” who became a deplorable judge, and Cockburn concludes “a more ludicrous personage could not exist.”Works
With John Campbell and others, Rae collected the ‘Decisions of the Court of Session from the end of the year 1756 to the end of the year 1760,’ Edinburgh, 1765.Family
He married, on 14 October 1761, Margaret (d. 1770), youngest daughter of John Stuart of BlairhallBlairhall
Blairhall is a village in West Fife, Scotland. It is situated approximately west of Comrie, and west of Dunfermline. The village was originally a small hamlet but was expanded in 1911 to house the miners from a nearby colliery...
, Perthshire
Perthshire
Perthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...
, by whom he had two sons and one daughter:
- David, who succeeded as the second baronet, but died without male issue on 22 May 1815;
- William (1769–1842) Member of Parliament and Lord AdvocateLord AdvocateHer 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...
; and - Margaret, who married, on 3 January 1804, Captain Thomas Phipps Howard of the 23rd Light Dragoons.