Alexander Wedderburn, 1st Earl of Rosslyn (February 13, 1733–January 2, 1805), Lord Chancellor of Great Britain, was the eldest son of Peter Wedderburn (a lord of session as Lord Chesterhall), and was born in East Lothian. February 13 is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events February 12 - British colonist James Oglethorpe founds Savannah, Georgia. ... January 2 is the second day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1805 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor and in former times the Chancellor of England and the Lord Chancellor of Scotland, is one of the most senior and important functionaries in the government of the United Kingdom, and its predecessor states. ... East Lothian (Lodainn an Ear in Gaelic) is one of 32 unitary council areas in Scotland, and a Lieutenancy Area. ...

Arms of Alexander Wedderburn (as Baron Loughborough).

He acquired the rudiments of his education at Dalkeith, and in his fourteenth year matriculated at the university of Edinburgh. It was from the first his desire to practise at the English bar, though in deference to his father's wishes he qualified as an advocate at Edinburgh, in 1754, but entered himself at the Inner Temple on May 8, 1753, so that he might keep the Easter and Trinity terms in that year. His father was called to the bench in 1755, and for the next three years Wedderburn stuck to his practice in Edinburgh, during which period he employed his oratorical powers in the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and passed his evenings in the social and argumentative clubs which abounded in Edinburgh. Image File history File links Baron_Loughborough_coa. ... Image File history File links Baron_Loughborough_coa. ... Dalkeith (Scottish Gaelic: Dail Cheith) (pop. ... The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... It has been suggested that Barrister#Advocates in Scotland be merged into this article or section. ... 1754 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple is one of the four Inns of Court around the Royal Courts of Justice in London, England, to which barristers belong and where they are called to the Bar. ... May 8 is the 128th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (129th in leap years). ... 1753 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1755 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The Church of Scotland (C of S, also known informally as The Kirk; until the 17th century officially the Kirk of Scotland) is the Christian national church of Scotland. ...

In 1755 the precursor of the later Edinburgh Review was started, now chiefly remembered because in its pages Adam Smith criticized the dictionary of Dr Johnson, and because the contents of its two numbers were edited by Wedderburn. The dean of faculty at this time, Lockhart, afterwards Lord Covington, a lawyer notorious for his harsh demeanour, in the autumn of 1757 assailed Wedderburn with more than ordinary insolence. His victim retorted with extraordinary powers of invective, and on being rebuked by the bench declined to retract or apologize, but placed his gown upon the table, and with a low bow left the court for ever. 1755 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The Edinburgh Review was one of the most influential British magazines of the 19th century. ... Adam Smith, FRSE (baptised June 5, 1723 – July 17, 1790) was a Scottish political economist and moral philosopher. ... 1757 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

He was called to the English bar at the Inner Temple in 1757. To shake off his native accent and to acquire the graces of oratorical action, he engaged the services of Thomas Sheridan and Charles Macklin. To secure business and to conduct his cases with adequate knowledge, he studied the forms of English law, he solicited William Strahan, the printer, to get him employed in city causes, and he entered into social intercourse (as is noted in Alexander Carlyle's autobiography) with busy London solicitors. His local connections and the incidents of his previous career introduced him to the notice of his countrymen Lords Bute and Mansfield. The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple is one of the four Inns of Court around the Royal Courts of Justice in London, England, to which barristers belong and where they are called to the Bar. ... 1757 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Thomas Sheridan (1719 - 1788) was a stage actor and a major proponent of the elocution movement. ... Charles Macklin (1697?‑1797) was an actor and dramatist born in the north of Ireland, and one of the most distinguished actors of his day, shining equally in tragedy and comedy. ... Alexander Carlyle (January 26, 1722 _ August 28, 1805) was a Scottish church leader. ...

When Lord Bute was prime minister this legal satellite used, says Dr Johnson, to go on errands for him, and it is to Wedderburn's credit that he first suggested to the premier the propriety of granting Johnson a pension. Through the favor of Lord Bute, he was returned to parliament for the Ayr burghs in 1761. In 1763 he became king's counsel and bencher of Lincoln's Inn, and for a short time went the northern. circuits, but was more successful in obtaining business in the Court of Chancery. He obtained a considerable addition to his resources (Carlyle puts the amount at £10,000) on his marriage in 1767 to Betty Anne, sole child and heiress of John Dawson of Marly in Yorkshire. John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (May 25, 1713 - March 10, 1792), was a Scottish nobleman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain (1762-1763) under George III. A close relative of the Campbell clan (his mother was a daughter of the First Duke of Argyll), Bute succeeded to... Samuel Johnson circa 1772, painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds. ... Ayr was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1708 until 2005. ... 1761 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1763 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Part of Lincolns Inn drawn by Thomas Shepherd c. ... One of the courts of equity in England and Wales. ... 1767 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Marly is the name or part of the name of several communes in Europe: France Marly, in the Moselle département Marly, in the Nord département Marly-Gomont, in the Aisne département Marly-la-Ville, in the Val-dOise département Marly-le-Roi, in the Yvelines département Marly-sous-Issy... The White Yorkshire rose. ...

When George Grenville, whose principles leaned to Toryism, quarrelled with the court, Wedderburn affected to regard him as his leader in politics. At the dissolution in the spring of 1768 he was returned by Sir Lawrence Dundas for Richmond as a Tory, but in the questions that arose over John Wilkes he took the popular side of Wilkes and liberty, and resigned his seat in May 1769. In the opinion of the people he was now regarded as the embodiment of all legal virtue; his health was toasted at the dinners of the Whigss amid rounds of applause, and, in recompense for the loss of his seat in parliament, he was returned by Lord Clive for his pocket-borough of Bishop's Castle, in Shropshire, in January 1770. Arms of George Grenville The Right Honourable George Grenville (October 14, 1712 – November 13, 1770) was a British Whig statesman who served in government for the relatively short period of nine years (reaching the position of Prime Minister of Great Britain); Sir Robert Walpole served as Prime Minister alone for... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... 1768 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... The town of Richmond as seen from the top of the keep of Richmond Castle Richmond is a market town on the River Swale in North Yorkshire, UK. Situated on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, it is a popular tourist destination. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... While the Whigs (along with the Tories) are often described as one of the two political parties in late 17th to mid 19th century Great Britain, it is more accurate to describe them as loose political groupings or tendencies. ... 1770 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

During the next session he acted vigorously in opposition, but his conduct was always viewed with distrust by his new associates, and his attacks on the ministry of Lord North grew less and less animated in proportion to its apparent fixity of tenure. In January 1771 he was offered and accepted the post of solicitor-general. The high road to the woolsack was now open, but his defection from his former path has stamped his character with general infamy. Junius wrote of him, "As for Mr Wedderburn, there is something about him which even treachery cannot trust," and Colonel Barr attacked him in the House of Commons. The new law officer defended his conduct with the assertion that his alliance in politics had been with George Grenville, and that the connection had been. severed on his death. Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford, KG , PC (April 13, 1732–August 5, 1792), more often known by his earlier title, Lord North, was Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1770 to 1782, and a major actor in the American Revolution. ... See also Letters of Junius; Identity of Junius; and Junius Quotes For other uses, see Junius (disambiguation). ... British House of Commons Canadian House of Commons In some bicameral parliaments of a Westminster System, the House of Commons has historically been the name of the elected lower house. ... Arms of George Grenville The Right Honourable George Grenville (October 14, 1712 – November 13, 1770) was a British Whig statesman who served in government for the relatively short period of nine years (reaching the position of Prime Minister of Great Britain); Sir Robert Walpole served as Prime Minister alone for...

All through the American War he consistently declaimed against the colonies, and he was bitter (and, some historians say, downright slanderous) in his attack on Benjamin Franklin before the Privy Council. In June 1778 Wedderburn was promoted to the post of attorney-general, and in the same year he refused the dignity of chief baron of the exchequer because the offer was not accompanied by the promise of a peerage. At the dissolution in 1774 he had been returned for Okehampton in Devon, and for Castle Rising in Norfolk, and selected the former constituency; on his promotion as leading law officer of the crown he returned to Bishops Castle. The coveted peerage was not long delayed. In June 1780 he was created chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas, with the title of Baron Loughborough. The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American War of Independence, was a war fought primarily between Great Britain and revolutionaries within thirteen of her North American colonies. ... Benjamin Franklin by Jean-Baptiste Greuze 1777 Benjamin Franklin (January 17 [O.S. January 6] 1706 – April 17, 1790) was one of the most prominent of the Founders and early political figures and statesmen of the United States. ... Her Majestys Most Honourable Privy Council is a body of advisors to the British Sovereign. ... 1778 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... For the Peerage in France, see French peerage. ... 1774 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Location within the British Isles. ... The inner harbour, Brixham, south Devon, at low tide Devon is a large county in South West England, bordering on Cornwall to the west, Dorset and Somerset to the east. ... Norfolk (pronounced IPA: ) is a low-lying county in East Anglia in the east of southern England. ... 1780 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... In United States jurisprudence, Court of Common Pleas is a term referring to a court of certain jurisdiction. ...

During the existence of the coalition ministry of North and Fox, the great seal was in commission (April to December 1783), and Lord Loughborough held the leading place among the commissioners. For some time after that ministrys fall he was considered the leader of the Whig party in the House of Lords, and, had the illness of the king brought about the return of the Whigs to power, the great seal would have been placed in his hands. The king's restoration to health secured Pitt's continuance in office, and disappointed the expectations of the Whigs. In 1792, during the period of the French Revolution, Lord Loughborough seceded from Fox, and on January 28, 1793 he received the great seal in the Tory cabinet of Pitt. The resignation of Pitt on the question of Catholic emancipation (1801) put an end to Wedderburn's tenure of the Lord Chancellorship, for, much to his surprise, no place was found for him in Addington's cabinet. The Right Honourable Charles James Fox (13 January 1749–13 September 1806) was a British Whig politician. ... This article is about the British House of Lords. ... George III (George William Frederick) (4 June 1738 – 29 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until 1 January 1801, and thereafter King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death. ... The Right Honourable William Pitt, the Younger (28 May 1759–23 January 1806) was a British politician during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. ... 1792 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Liberty Leading the People, a painting by Delacroix commemorating the July Revolution of 1830 but which has come to be generally accepted as symbolic of French popular uprisings against the monarchy in general and the French Revolution in particular. ... January 28 is the 28th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1793 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The Right Honourable Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, PC (30 May 1757–15 February 1844) was a British statesman, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1804. ...

His first wife died in 1781 without leaving issue, and he married in the following year Charlotte, youngest daughter of William, Viscount Courtenay; but her only son died in childhood. Lord Loughborough accordingly obtained in 1795 a re-grant of his barony with remainder to his nephew, Sir James St Clair Erskine. His fall in 1801 was softened by the grant of an earldom (he was created earl of Rosslyn April 21, 1801, with remainder to his nephew), and by a pension of 4000 per annum. After this date he rarely appeared in public, but he was a constant figure at all the royal festivities. He attended one of those gatherings at Frogmore, in December 1804. On the following day he was seized with an attack of gout in the stomach, and on the 2nd of January 1805 he died at his seat, Baylis, near Salt Hill, Windsor. His remains were buried in St Paul's Cathedral on January 11. 1781 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... The Union Jack, flag of the newly formed United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. ... April 21 is the 111th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (112th in leap years). ... Look up December in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... 1804 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1805 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Windsor (IPA: usually , but also ) is a suburban town and tourist destination in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, South East England. ... St Pauls Cathedral from the south St Pauls Cathedral is a cathedral on Ludgate Hill, in the City of London, and the seat of the Bishop of London. ... January 11 is the 11th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

At the bar Wedderburn was the most elegant speaker of his time, and, although his knowledge of the principles and precedents of law was deficient, his skill in marshalling facts and his clearness of diction were marvellous; on the bench his judgments were remarkable for their perspicuity, particularly in the appeal cases to the House of Lords. For cool and sustained declamation he stood unrivalled in parliament, and his readiness in debate was universally acknowledged. In social life, in the company of the wits and writers of his day, his faculties seemed to desert him. He was not only dull, but the cause of dulness in others, and even Alexander Carlyle confesses that in conversation his illustrious countryman was stiff and pompous. In Wedderburn's character ambition banished all rectitude of principle, but the love of money for money's sake was not among his faults.

See Brougham's Statesmen of the Reign of George IlI; Foss's Judges; Campbell's Lives of Lord Chancellors.

Reference

• This entry incorporates public domain text originally from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.