Robert Bruce of Kennet, Lord Kennet FRSE (24 December 1718 – 8 April 1785) was a Scottish advocate, legal scholar and judge.
Life
editBruce was born in Edinburgh on 28 December 1718, the son of Mary Balfour, daughter of Robert Balfour, 4th Lord Burleigh and Alexander Bruce of Kennet (1691-1747).[1][2]
He was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in January 1743. He served as Professor of Law of Nature and Nations at the University of Edinburgh (1758–64) and was appointed Sheriff-Depute of Stirling & Clackmannan in 1760.[3] He was elected a Senator of the College of Justice, as Lord Kennet, in 1764 and Lord of Justiciary in 1769.
In 1783 he was a founder member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His Edinburgh address at this time was at George Square.[4]
He died at Kennet House on 8 April 1785.
Family
editHe married Helen Abercromby (b. 1731) 6 June 1754.[5][6] They had seven sons and one daughter, including his heir, Alexander (1755-1808) who was born in Edinburgh. [7] The remaining six children were born between 1757 and 1771 at Kennet House. [8]
Bruce was the uncle of James Abercromby, 1st Baron Dunfermline (1776-1858). His brothers-in-law included James Stuart-Mackenzie (1719–1800), Alexander Abercromby, Lord Abercromby (1745–1795), James Edmonstone (d.1793) and Sir Lawrence Dundas, 1st Baronet (1712-1781) who had married his older sister Margaret (b. 1716). [9]
Notes
edit- ^ An Historical Account of the Senators of the College of Justice: Brunton, Haig and Lockhart
- ^ National Records of Scotland OPR Births 685/1 Edinburgh, p. 252 of 297, and NRS OPR Births 685/1 Edinburgh, p. 292 of 396.
- ^ George Brunton; David Haig; James S. Lockhart (1836). An Historical Account of the Senators of the College of Justice: From Its Institution in MDXXXII. Edinburgh Printing Company. p. 528.
- ^ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1784
- ^ 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) - ^ National Records of Scotland OPR Births 683-30/154 and Marriages 466-30/292.
- ^ The National Records of Scotland Old Parish Records 685/1-290/45.
- ^ The National Records of Scotland Old Parish Records 466/30-111 to 169 and 466/40-20.
- ^ The National Records of Scotland Old Parish Records 685/1-160/180.
 | This biography of a Scottish academic is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
   | This Scottish law-related biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |