Sir William Scott, Lord Clerkington (died 1656) was a Scottish politician and judge. Scott owned

Malleny House and Garden The Malleny House and Garden is an historic house and garden owned by the National Trust for Scotland in Balerno, six miles southwest of Edinburgh. The gardens are notable for its large yew trees, as well as one of the largest rose collections in ...

which later passed to several generations of his descendants via his son John.

Life

He was the eldest son of Laurence Scott of Harprig, an advocate, clerk to the privy council, and one of the clerks of the Court of Session. In November 1641 he was knighted by King

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of Scotland, but after hi ...

. Like his father, he was one of the clerks of session. In 1628 his father bought the estate of Clerkington, just west of Haddington from Richard Cockburne of Clerkington. William inherited it around 1635. Due to the enactment of the

act of classes The Act of Classes was passed by the Parliament of Scotland on 23 January 1649. It was probably drafted by Lord Warriston, a leading member of the Kirk Party, who along with the Marquess of Argyll were leading proponents of its clauses. It bann ...

, which made it impossible for those who took part in the engagement on behalf of Charles I to hold office, Scott was in June 1649 appointed an ordinary lord of session with the title of Lord Clerkington. In 1645 he had been chosen to represent

Haddingtonshire East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the histo ...

in parliament, and in 1650 was chosen a commissioner for the Edinburghshire. He was also one of the committee of estates, and took a prominent part in affairs at the period of Charles II's recall to Scotland in June 1650. Scott died on 23 December 1656.

Family

In October 1621 he married his first wife, Catherine Morison, a daughter of Alexander Morison, Lord Preston Grange. Scott had one son, Laurence; and by his second wife, Barbara, daughter of Sir John Dalmahoy of Dalmahoy, bart., he had three sons and three daughters. The sons were: * John, who succeeded his brother Laurence, obtained from his father in patrimony the lands and barony of Malleny, and was the ancestor of the Scotts of Malleny; * James of Scotsloch; and * Robert, dean of Hamilton.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, William Year of birth missing 1656 deaths Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1644–1647 Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1648–1651 Clerkington Shire Commissioners to the Parliament of Scotland