View source for George Fergusson, Lord Hermand

{{Short description|Scottish judge}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
[[File:George Fergusson, Lord Hermand by John Kay.PNG|thumb|George Fergusson, Lord Hermand by John Kay]]
'''George Fergusson, Lord Hermand''' {{Post-nominals|post-noms=[[Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh|FRSE]]}} (25 August 1743&ndash;9 August 1827) was a Scottish [[advocate]] and judge.<ref name="Waterston">{{cite book
|last1       = Waterston
|first1      = Charles D
|last2       = Macmillan Shearer
|first2      = A
|title       = Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783-2002: Biographical Index
|url         = http://www.rse.org.uk/fellowship/fells_indexp1.pdf
|accessdate  = 10 February 2011
|volume      = I
|date        = July 2006
|publisher   = [[The Royal Society of Edinburgh]]
|location    = Edinburgh
|isbn        = 978-0-902198-84-5
|url-status     = dead
|archiveurl  = https://web.archive.org/web/20061004113545/http://www.rse.org.uk/fellowship/fells_indexp1.pdf
|archivedate = 4 October 2006
}}</ref>
==Life==
[[File:Hermand House near West Calder.jpg|thumb|330px|Hermand House near West Calder]]
He was born on 25 August 1743,<ref>{{cite book|title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002|date=July 2006|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh|isbn=0-902-198-84-X|url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf|access-date=3 May 2016|archive-date=24 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124115814/http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> the eighth son of Jean Maitland, only child of James, viscount Maitland, and grand-daughter of John, fifth earl of [[Lauderdale]], and her husband, [[Sir James Fergusson, 2nd Baronet]] of Kilkerran in [[Ayrshire]]. His elder brother was [[Sir Adam Fergusson, 3rd Baronet]]. George attended [[James Mundell|James Mundell's]] School in [[Edinburgh]] then the [[Royal High School, Edinburgh|High School]] 1755–56. He then studied law at the [[University of Edinburgh]].
He was admitted a member of the [[Faculty of Advocates]] on 17 December 1765. He practised at the [[Bar (law)|bar]] for 34 years with considerable success.
In 1783, with his brother Adam and many other notable Edinburgh figures of the [[Scottish Enlightenment]], he was a founder member of the [[Royal Society of Edinburgh]].
On the death of [[Robert McQueen, Lord Braxfield]], Fergusson was made an ordinary lord of session, and took his seat on the bench as "Lord Hermand" on 11 July 1799. He was also appointed a [[Commission of Justiciary|lord justiciary]] on 4 August 1808, in the place of Sir William Nairne of Dunsinnam.<ref>Kay, John [http://edinburghbookshelf.org.uk/volume8/page555/spread George Fergusson, Lord Hermand] Kay's Originals '''I''' CLVI(392) ''Edinburgh Bookshelf''. Retrieved 18 February 2012</ref> He resigned both these offices in 1826.
Fergusson was both eccentric and a heavy drinker. An etching of Hermand by [[John Kay (caricaturist)|John Kay]] is in the first volume of 'Original Portraits' (No. 156). His portrait also appears along with those of the other judges in the 'Last Sitting of the Old Court of Session, 11 July 1808' (vol. ii. No. 300).<ref>Original old antique Victorian print
[https://www.amazon.com/c1790-c1900-LAST-SITTING-COURT-SESSION/dp/B003V4R92Y/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1329552470&sr=8-3 c1790-c1900 LAST SITTING OLD COURT SESSION JULY 1808] ''[[Amazon (company)|Amazon]]''. {{ASIN|B003V4R92Y}}. Retrieved 18 February 2012</ref>
He died at the family estate of Hermand House east of [[West Calder]] and west of [[Edinburgh]], on 9 August 1827. Hermand House and its estate still survive.
==Family==
Fergusson married Graham (sic), daughter of William McDowall of Garthland, who survived him by several years. They had no children.
==References==
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==Sources==
*{{cite DNB|wstitle=Fergusson, George}}
*{{DNB|wstitle=Fergusson, George}}
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[[Category:1743 births]]
[[Category:1827 deaths]]
[[Category:18th-century Scottish judges]]
[[Category:19th-century Scottish people]]
[[Category:Senators of the College of Justice|Hermand]]
[[Category:Founder fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:People from Ayrshire]]
[[Category:People educated at James Mundell's School]]
[[Category:People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Members of the Faculty of Advocates]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Clan Fergusson|George]]
[[Category:Younger sons of baronets]]
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