George Outram (25 March 1805 – 15 September 1856) was a Scottish humorous poet,

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. List of country legal systems, Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a ba ...

, friend of John Wilson, and for some time editor of '' The Herald'' in Glasgow.

Life

Outram was born on 25 March 1805 the son of Elizabeth Knox (1779–1866) and Joseph Outram, manager of the Clyde Ironworks. He was born in the parish of New Monkland and Coatbridge. In 1807 the family moved to

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

, the harbour area 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 ...

. He attended Leith High School and then 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 ...

. He qualified as an advocate in 1827. In the 1830s he is listed as living at 14 Fettes Row, on the northern fringe of

Edinburgh's New Town The New Town is a central area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It was built in stages between 1767 and around 1850, and retains much of its original Neoclassicism, neo-classical and Georgian architecture, Georgian period architecture. Its ...

. In 1837 he married Frances McRobbie (d.1880) who had been born in

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. In the same year he took over the parent company which printed the ''

Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

,'' founded in 1783 by John Mennons. Under Outram's leadership the company grew considerably, becoming the "eponymous" Scottish printing company and renaming itself George Outram & Co. From 19 July 1839 the newspaper bore the name of ''Outram & Co'' as its printer. He died at his country residence of Rosemore on the

Holy Loch The Holy Loch () is a sea loch, part of the Firth of Clyde, in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The "Holy Loch" name is believed to date from the 6th century, when Saint Munn landed there after leaving Ireland. Kilmun Parish Church and Argyll Mausole ...

near

Dunoon Dunoon (; ) is the main town on the Cowal peninsula in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is located on the western shore of the upper Firth of Clyde, to the south of the Holy Loch and to the north of Innellan. As well as forming part of the cou ...

on 15 September 1856. He is buried in

Warriston Cemetery Warriston Cemetery is a cemetery in List of graveyards and cemeteries in Edinburgh, Edinburgh. It lies in Warriston, one of the northern suburbs of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was built by the then newly-formed Edinburgh Cemetery Company, and o ...

in north

. The grave lies close to the sealed east gate, behind the large monument to the poet Alexander Smith. He is buried with his wife, three sons, and mother (who died last).

Works

He printed privately in 1851 '' Legal lyrics and metrical illustrations of the Scotch form of process'', and later some of his work was collected posthumously in ''Lyrics, Legal and Miscellaneous'', which was published with a short biography in 1874.

References

External links

*
''Lyrics, Legal and Miscellaneous''
1805 births 1856 deaths 19th-century Scottish lawyers 19th-century Scottish journalists 19th-century Scottish poets 19th-century Scottish male writers Members of the Faculty of Advocates Scottish newspaper editors The Herald (Glasgow) editors Scottish male journalists Scottish male poets {{Scotland-writer-stub