George Mackenzie (lawyer)
Encyclopedia
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...
lawyer, 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...
, and legal writer.
Origins
Mackenzie, was born in DundeeDundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
, was the son of Sir Simon Mackenzie, of Lochslin
Lochslin
Lochslin is a small hamlet, situated northeast of the fresh water loch, Loch Eye in Tain, Ross-shire, Scottish Highlands and is in the Scottish council area of Highland....
(died about 1666) and Elizabeth, daughter of the Reverend Peter Bruce, (who was
minister of St. Leonard's, and Principal of St. Leonard's Hall in the University of St. Andrews). Sir Simon was the son of Kenneth Mackenzie, 1st Lord Mackenzie of Kintail
Kenneth Mackenzie, 1st Lord Mackenzie of Kintail
Kenneth Mackenzie, the first Lord Mackenzie of Kintail , was a Highland clan chief who secured for himself and his heirs the entirety of the island of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides and successfully pursued a bloody feud with the Macdonells of Glengarry.-Origins:Mackenzie was the son of Colin Cam...
and so George Mackenzie was the cousin of George Mackenzie, 2nd Earl of Seaforth
George Mackenzie, 2nd Earl of Seaforth
George Mackenzie, 2nd Earl of Seaforth was a Highland clan chief and Scottish nobleman, who played an equivocating role in Scotland in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.-Origins:...
. The Mackenzies
Clan MacKenzie
Clan Mackenzie is a Highland Scottish clan, traditionally associated with Kintail and lands in Ross-shire.-Origins:The Mackenzies, a powerful clan of Celtic stock, were not among the clans that originated from Norman ancestry. Descendants of the long defunct royal Cenél Loairn of Dál Riata, they...
were a clan from Ross-shire
Ross-shire
Ross-shire is an area in the Highland Council Area in Scotland. The name is now used as a geographic or cultural term, equivalent to Ross. Until 1889 the term denoted a county of Scotland, also known as the County of Ross...
that had risen to prominence in the 15th century during the disintegration of the Lordship of the Isles
Lord of the Isles
The designation Lord of the Isles is today a title of Scottish nobility with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It emerged from a series of hybrid Viking/Gaelic rulers of the west coast and islands of Scotland in the Middle Ages, who wielded sea-power with fleets of...
.
Education and life
He was educated at the King's CollegeKing's College, Aberdeen
King's College in Old Aberdeen, Scotland is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and an integral part of the University of Aberdeen...
, University of Aberdeen
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...
(which he entered in 1650), the University of St Andrews
University of St Andrews
The University of St Andrews, informally referred to as "St Andrews", is the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the English-speaking world after Oxford and Cambridge. The university is situated in the town of St Andrews, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It was founded between...
, and the University of Bourges
University of Bourges
The University of Bourges was a university located in Bourges, France. It was founded by Louis XI in 1463 and deleted during french Revolution.-Notable alumni:* Patrick Adamson * John Calvin * Hugues Doneau...
in France.
He was elected to 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...
in 1659, and distinguished himself in the trial of Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll
Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll
Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, 8th Earl of Argyll, chief of Clan Campbell, was the de facto head of government in Scotland during most of the conflict known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, also known as the British Civil War...
in 1661. He was knighted and was a member of the Scottish Parliament for Ross from 1669, In 1677 became 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...
, and a member of the Privy Council of Scotland
Privy Council of Scotland
The Privy Council of Scotland was a body that advised the King.In the range of its functions the council was often more important than the Estates in the running the country. Its registers include a wide range of material on the political, administrative, economic and social affairs of Scotland...
. As Lord Advocate he was the minister
Minister (government)
A minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet....
responsible for the persecuting policy of Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
in Scotland against the Presbyterian Covenanter
Covenanter
The Covenanters were a Scottish Presbyterian movement that played an important part in the history of Scotland, and to a lesser extent in that of England and Ireland, during the 17th century...
s. He resigned for a short time in 1686, taking up office again in 1688. He opposed the dethronement of James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
, and to escape the consequences he retired from public life. He founded the library of the Faculty of Advocates, which opened in 1689.
When the leading Scottish jurist Sir John Lauder, Lord Fountainhall
John Lauder, Lord Fountainhall
Sir John Lauder of Fountainhall, 2nd Baronet, Lord Fountainhall was one of Scotland's leading jurists who remains to this day an oft consulted authority...
was, in 1692, offered the post of 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...
he declined it because the condition was attached that he should not prosecute the persons implicated in the Glencoe Massacre. Sir George Mackenzie, who had previously been a Lord Advocate, also refused to concur in this partial application of the penal laws, and his refusal (unlike Fountainhall's) led to his temporary disgrace.
During and after the Restoration approximately 18,000 Covenanters died for their beliefs. After the Battle of Bothwell Bridge
Battle of Bothwell Bridge
The Battle of Bothwell Bridge, or Bothwell Brig, took place on 22 June 1679. It was fought between government troops and militant Presbyterian Covenanters, and signalled the end of their brief rebellion...
Mackenzie imprisoned 1,200 Covenanters in a field next to Greyfriars Kirkyard
Greyfriars Kirkyard
Greyfriars Kirkyard is the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the southern edge of the Old Town, adjacent to George Heriot's School. Burials have been taking place since the late 16th century, and a number of notable Edinburgh residents are interred at...
, some were executed and hundreds died of maltreatment. The inhumanity and relentlessness of his persecution of the Covenanter
Covenanter
The Covenanters were a Scottish Presbyterian movement that played an important part in the history of Scotland, and to a lesser extent in that of England and Ireland, during the 17th century...
s gained him the nickname of "Bloody Mackenzie", In private life he was a cultivated and learned gentleman with literary tendencies, and is remembered as the author of various graceful essay
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
s, of which the best known is A Moral Essay preferring Solitude to Public Employment (1665). He also wrote legal, political, and antiquarian works of value, including Institutions of the Law of Scotland (1684), Antiquity of the Royal Line of Scotland (1686), Heraldry, and Memoirs of the Affairs of Scotland from the Restoration of Charles II, a valuable work which was not published until 1821. Mackenzie was the founder of the Advocates' Library
Advocates' Library
The Advocates' Library is a law library belonging to the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh, founded in 1682. Until 1925 it was the deposit library for Scotland, after which the role was taken on by the National Library of Scotland....
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. He retired at the Glorious Revolution
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
to Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
. He died at Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
on 8 May 1691 and is buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard
Greyfriars Kirkyard
Greyfriars Kirkyard is the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the southern edge of the Old Town, adjacent to George Heriot's School. Burials have been taking place since the late 16th century, and a number of notable Edinburgh residents are interred at...
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, his mausoleum being designed by James Smith
James Smith (architect)
James Smith was a Scottish architect, who pioneered the Palladian style in Scotland. He was described by Colen Campbell, in his Vitruvius Britannicus , as "the most experienced architect of that kingdom".-Biography:...
.
Family
In 1662 Mackenzie married Elizabeth, daughter of George Dickson of Hartree, one of the Senators of the College of JusticeCollege of Justice
The College of Justice is a term used to describe the Supreme Courts of Scotland, and its associated bodies.The constituent bodies of the supreme courts of Scotland are the Court of Session, the High Court of Justiciary, and the Accountant of Court's Office...
. They had:
- John (died young)
- Simon (died young)
- George (died young)
- Agnes, who married James StuartJames Stuart, 1st Earl of ButeSir James Stuart, 3rd Baronet, of Bute, created 1st Earl of Bute, MP, PC , was the son of Sir Dugald Stuart, 2nd Baronet and Elizabeth Ruthven, daughter of Sir John Ruthven....
, later 1st Earl of Bute - Elizabeth, who married first Sir Archibald Cockburn of Langton and secondly the Hon Sir James Mackenzie of RoystonMackenzie BaronetsThere have been ten Baronetcies created for persons with the surname Mackenzie, seven in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia and three in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom...
, Bt.
His first wife died not later than 1667-1668 and in 1670 he married secondly Margaret, daughter of Haliburton of Pitcur. They had a son and two daughters:
- George, who married but died, without male issue, before his father
- Anne, who married Sir William Dick of Prestonfield
- Elizabeth, who married Sir John Stuart of Grandtully