Among his other accomplishments, William Grant of Prestongrange is known in history as the chief prosecutor of "James of the Glen" Stewart who was an accomplice in "The Appin Murder" -- the May 1752 ambush and murder of Colin "The Red Fox" Campbell.
Lee Holcombe, Ancient Animosity, The Appin Murder and the End of Scottish Rebellion, p 356 (Author House; Bloomington, IN: 2004), wrote:
"The person with chief responsibility for developing and conducting the case against James Stewart was Lord Advocate William Grant of Prestongrange. [A] man of fifty-one [in 1752], he could look back on a distinguished career and forward to still further advancement in his profession. The second son of a country gentleman of Banffshire, Prestongrange had decided … to pursue a legal career. He studied law at Edinburgh University and then at the Middle Temple in London; admitted as an advocate in 1722, he quickly built up a large practice. In 1731 he was named procurator (legal adviser) for the Church of Scotland and principal clerk of its general assembly, lucrative and influential positions he would hold for fifteen years. In 1737 Prestongrange became solicitor general …. In 1746 … Prestongrange became lord advocate…. As lord advocate and member of Parliament for the Elgin Burghs, Prestongrange played leading roles in prosecuting Jacobite rebels after the Forty-five and presenting in Parliament such important reform legislation as the act abolishing heritable jurisdictions and … the act annexing some of the forfeited Jacobite estates to the Crown. Two years after James Stewart's trial, Prestongrange would be elevated to the bench as a lord of session and lord of justiciary, and would serve ably until his death in 1764.
"By all contemporary accounts Prestongrange was a man of unquestioned honour and integrity and deservedly a distinguished ornament of his profession. A colleague [Henry Home of Kames] penned this tribute: 'There was in him a rectitude of moral feeling, and a principle of virtuous integrity, which regulated the whole of his conduct….' He performed his public duties conscientiously, with a mind ‘superior to all the illberable prejudices that are the offspring of party spirit,' and in prosecuting criminals, ‘if at any time he allowed his passions to influence his conduct, it was ever on the side of mercy and humanity.'"
Lee Holcombe, Ancient Animosity, The Appin Murder and the End of Scottish Rebellion, p 356 (Author House; Bloomington, IN: 2004), wrote:
"The person with chief responsibility for developing and conducting the case against James Stewart was Lord Advocate William Grant of Prestongrange. [A] man of fifty-one [in 1752], he could look back on a distinguished career and forward to still further advancement in his profession. The second son of a country gentleman of Banffshire, Prestongrange had decided … to pursue a legal career. He studied law at Edinburgh University and then at the Middle Temple in London; admitted as an advocate in 1722, he quickly built up a large practice. In 1731 he was named procurator (legal adviser) for the Church of Scotland and principal clerk of its general assembly, lucrative and influential positions he would hold for fifteen years. In 1737 Prestongrange became solicitor general …. In 1746 … Prestongrange became lord advocate…. As lord advocate and member of Parliament for the Elgin Burghs, Prestongrange played leading roles in prosecuting Jacobite rebels after the Forty-five and presenting in Parliament such important reform legislation as the act abolishing heritable jurisdictions and … the act annexing some of the forfeited Jacobite estates to the Crown. Two years after James Stewart's trial, Prestongrange would be elevated to the bench as a lord of session and lord of justiciary, and would serve ably until his death in 1764.
"By all contemporary accounts Prestongrange was a man of unquestioned honour and integrity and deservedly a distinguished ornament of his profession. A colleague [Henry Home of Kames] penned this tribute: 'There was in him a rectitude of moral feeling, and a principle of virtuous integrity, which regulated the whole of his conduct….' He performed his public duties conscientiously, with a mind ‘superior to all the illberable prejudices that are the offspring of party spirit,' and in prosecuting criminals, ‘if at any time he allowed his passions to influence his conduct, it was ever on the side of mercy and humanity.'"
Among his other accomplishments, William Grant of Prestongrange is known in history as the chief prosecutor of "James of the Glen" Stewart who was an accomplice in "The Appin Murder" -- the May 1752 ambush and murder of Colin "The Red Fox" Campbell.
Lee Holcombe, Ancient Animosity, The Appin Murder and the End of Scottish Rebellion, p 356 (Author House; Bloomington, IN: 2004), wrote:
"The person with chief responsibility for developing and conducting the case against James Stewart was Lord Advocate William Grant of Prestongrange. [A] man of fifty-one [in 1752], he could look back on a distinguished career and forward to still further advancement in his profession. The second son of a country gentleman of Banffshire, Prestongrange had decided … to pursue a legal career. He studied law at Edinburgh University and then at the Middle Temple in London; admitted as an advocate in 1722, he quickly built up a large practice. In 1731 he was named procurator (legal adviser) for the Church of Scotland and principal clerk of its general assembly, lucrative and influential positions he would hold for fifteen years. In 1737 Prestongrange became solicitor general …. In 1746 … Prestongrange became lord advocate…. As lord advocate and member of Parliament for the Elgin Burghs, Prestongrange played leading roles in prosecuting Jacobite rebels after the Forty-five and presenting in Parliament such important reform legislation as the act abolishing heritable jurisdictions and … the act annexing some of the forfeited Jacobite estates to the Crown. Two years after James Stewart's trial, Prestongrange would be elevated to the bench as a lord of session and lord of justiciary, and would serve ably until his death in 1764.
"By all contemporary accounts Prestongrange was a man of unquestioned honour and integrity and deservedly a distinguished ornament of his profession. A colleague [Henry Home of Kames] penned this tribute: 'There was in him a rectitude of moral feeling, and a principle of virtuous integrity, which regulated the whole of his conduct….' He performed his public duties conscientiously, with a mind ‘superior to all the illberable prejudices that are the offspring of party spirit,' and in prosecuting criminals, ‘if at any time he allowed his passions to influence his conduct, it was ever on the side of mercy and humanity.'"
Lee Holcombe, Ancient Animosity, The Appin Murder and the End of Scottish Rebellion, p 356 (Author House; Bloomington, IN: 2004), wrote:
"The person with chief responsibility for developing and conducting the case against James Stewart was Lord Advocate William Grant of Prestongrange. [A] man of fifty-one [in 1752], he could look back on a distinguished career and forward to still further advancement in his profession. The second son of a country gentleman of Banffshire, Prestongrange had decided … to pursue a legal career. He studied law at Edinburgh University and then at the Middle Temple in London; admitted as an advocate in 1722, he quickly built up a large practice. In 1731 he was named procurator (legal adviser) for the Church of Scotland and principal clerk of its general assembly, lucrative and influential positions he would hold for fifteen years. In 1737 Prestongrange became solicitor general …. In 1746 … Prestongrange became lord advocate…. As lord advocate and member of Parliament for the Elgin Burghs, Prestongrange played leading roles in prosecuting Jacobite rebels after the Forty-five and presenting in Parliament such important reform legislation as the act abolishing heritable jurisdictions and … the act annexing some of the forfeited Jacobite estates to the Crown. Two years after James Stewart's trial, Prestongrange would be elevated to the bench as a lord of session and lord of justiciary, and would serve ably until his death in 1764.
"By all contemporary accounts Prestongrange was a man of unquestioned honour and integrity and deservedly a distinguished ornament of his profession. A colleague [Henry Home of Kames] penned this tribute: 'There was in him a rectitude of moral feeling, and a principle of virtuous integrity, which regulated the whole of his conduct….' He performed his public duties conscientiously, with a mind ‘superior to all the illberable prejudices that are the offspring of party spirit,' and in prosecuting criminals, ‘if at any time he allowed his passions to influence his conduct, it was ever on the side of mercy and humanity.'"
Family Members
Parents
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
