Alexander Morison (or Morrison), Lord Prestongrange (1579–1631) was a 17th-century Scottish judge,

Senator of the College of Justice The senators of the College of Justice in Scotland are judges of the College of Justice, a set of legal institutions involved in the administration of justice in Scotland. There are three types of senator: Lords of Session (judges of the Court ...

and

Lord President of the Court of Session The Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General () is the most senior judge in Scotland, the head of the judiciary, and the presiding judge of the College of Justice, the Court of Session, and the High Court of Justiciary. ...

Life

He was the son of John Morison of

Saughton Saughton () is a suburb of the west of Edinburgh, Scotland, bordering Broomhouse, Edinburgh, Broomhouse, Stenhouse, Edinburgh, Stenhouse, Longstone, Edinburgh, Longstone and Carrick Knowe. In Scots language, Lowland Scots, a "sauch" is a will ...

hall (1558–1615), a burgess and treasurer of the city of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, and his wife, Katherine Preston, daughter of Sir John Preston,

, and second wife Lilias Gilbert. He was born in 1579 probably in Saughton Hall, just west of Edinburgh. John Preston (his grandfather) had built

Prestongrange House Prestongrange House is a historic house at Prestongrange near Prestonpans, East Lothian, Scotland, UK. It is situated near to two other historic houses, Hamilton House, East Lothian, Hamilton House and Northfield House, East Lothian, Northfield ...

, a fine mansion west of

Prestonpans Prestonpans ( , Scots: ''The Pans'') is a mining town, situated approximately eight miles east of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the council area of East Lothian. The population as of is . It is near the site of the 1745 Battle of Prestonpans (first ...

, and this house came to belong to Alexander through inheritance around 1600. He trained as a lawyer at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

under

Henry Charteris Henry Charteris the younger (1565–1628) was a Scottish minister and Principal of the University of Edinburgh from 1599 to 1620. Life He was the eldest son of Henry Charteris, Printer to the King in Scotland (this status allowed printing of Bibl ...

, graduating with an MA in 1598. He passed the Scottish bar as an advocate in 1604. In February 1626 he was elected a Senator of the

College of Justice The College of Justice () includes the Supreme Courts of Scotland, and its associated bodies. The constituent bodies of the national supreme courts are the Court of Session, the High Court of Justiciary, the Office of the Accountant of Court, ...

and took the title Lord Prestongrange. In 1627 he was elected

Rector of the University of Edinburgh The Lord Rector of The University of Edinburgh is elected every three years by the students and staff at The University of Edinburgh. Seldom referred to as ''Lord Rector'', the incumbent is more commonly known just as the ''Rector''. Role T ...

in place of Andrew Ramsay. He died at home in

Prestongrange Prestongrange is a place in East Lothian, Scotland, United Kingdom, situated between Musselburgh to the west, and Prestonpans to the east. The place name derives from "Preston", meaning "priest's town", and a Monastic grange, grange (or granary ...

East Lothian East Lothian (; ; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In ...

on 20 September 1631.

Family

In 1610 he married Eleanor Maule daughter of William Maule of Glaster. They had four daughters and one son, Alexander, who inherited the Preston Grange estate. Their daughter Bethia married Sir

Robert Spottiswoode Sir Robert Spottiswood (Spottiswoode, Spotiswood, Spotswood), Lord Newabbey of New Abbey and Dunipace (1596 – 16 January 1646), was a Scottish lawyer, Lord President of the Court of Session and member of the Privy Council to James VI of ...

. His sister Catherine, married

William Scott, Lord Clerkington Sir William Scott, Lord Clerkington (died 1656) was a Scottish politician and judge. Scott owned Malleny House and Garden which later passed to several generations of his descendants via his son John. Life He was the eldest son of Laurence Sco ...

Trivia

Saughton Hall stood in of ground and was demolished by

Edinburgh Council The City of Edinburgh Council (Scottish Gaelic: ''Comhairle Baile Dhùn Èideann'') is the Local government in Scotland, local government authority covering the City of Edinburgh council area. Almost half of the council area is the built-up are ...

in 1952 to make way for housing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morison, Alexander 1579 births 1631 deaths Lawyers from Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Senators of the College of Justice