James Dewar (1797 – 25 November 1830) was a British jurist and a chief justice of the Supreme Court of Bombay.

Early life

Dewar was born in

Leuchars Leuchars (pronounced or ; "rushes") is a town and parish near the north-east coast of Fife in Scotland. The civil parish has a population of 5,754 (in 2011) Census of Scotland 2011, Table KS101SC – Usually Resident Population, publ. by Nati ...

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

. He was the son of Major General David Dewar and Mary Cutler. Dewar was admitted to

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in 1821 and entitled to practice as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

. He married Clementine Wemyss, daughter of William Wemyss in 1826. He lived at Cuttle Hill,

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Career

Dewar initially practised in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

then moved to

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

in June 1827. He was appointed as clerk of the Crown thereafter started practice in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

. He was elevated in the post of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Judicature of Bombay Presidency on 11 September 1829. He was Knighted in 1829. Dewar died on 25 November 1830 at the early age of thirty three. His son was the cricketer and British Army officer James Dewar, Jr.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dewar, James 1797 births 1830 deaths Chief justices of the Bombay High Court British India judges Members of the Middle Temple Knights Bachelor People from Leuchars People from Bombay Presidency