Sir James Foulis (died 1549), was a Scottish judge and

Senator of the College of Justice The senators of the College of Justice 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 of Session); ...

. Foulis was the son and heir of James de Foulis of Edinburgh (a skinner) and his wife, Margaret, who was herself the daughter of Sir James Henderson of Fordell,

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross ...

Lord Advocate His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate ( gd, Morair Tagraidh, sco, Laird Advocat), is the chief legal officer of the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for both civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolved po ...

James IV of Scotland James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauc ...

. On his father's side, Foulis was the grandson of William Foulis,

Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland The office of Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland, one of the Great Officers of State, first appears in the reign of David II. After the Act of Union 1707 its holder was normally a peer, like the Keeper of the Great Seal. The office has rema ...

under

James I of Scotland James I (late July 139421 February 1437) was King of Scots from 1406 until his assassination in 1437. The youngest of three sons, he was born in Dunfermline Abbey to King Robert III and Annabella Drummond. His older brother David, Duke of R ...

. Thomas Murray, ''Biographical Annals of the Parish of Colinton'' (1863), pp. 29–30. In 1519, Foulis acquired from the Master of Glencairn the lands of Colinton. Thereafter his family would incorporate Colinton into their names. He was chosen a lord of session 12 November 1526, being then

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

for Edinburgh, and was admitted as a member of

Court of Session The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland and constitutes part of the College of Justice; the supreme criminal court of Scotland is the High Court of Justiciary. The Court of Session sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh a ...

on 27 May 1532 shortly after it was instituted. From 1527 onward, Foulis served as Lord Advocate alongside but subordinate to Sir Adam Otterburn. In 1529 he had briefly been private secretary to

James V of Scotland James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV and Margaret Tudor, and dur ...

. From the first he was clerk register of the college, and as such was present in parliament in most years from 1535 to 1546. As such officer he was charged by license of parliament to cause the acts of the parliament to be printed by any person he wanted. From 1532 to 1546, he was a commissioner for holding parliament, and was a member of the

Privy Council of Scotland The Privy Council of Scotland ( — 1 May 1708) was a body that advised the Scottish monarch. In the range of its functions the council was often more important than the Estates in the running the country. Its registers include a wide range of ...

in 1542. In 1543, he was a commissioner to negotiate a marriage between the infant Queen Mary and Prince Edward of England. He was knighted in 1539, was succeeded by Thomas Marjoribanks of Ratho on 8 February 1548, and died before 4 February 1549.

Family

By his wife, Catherine Brown, he was father of Henry Foulis, depute-marishal, whose son James was grandfather of Sir James Foulis, Lord Colinton.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foulis, James Year of birth missing 1549 deaths Senators of the College of Justice 16th-century Scottish judges 16th-century Scottish people