James Glassford (1771 – 1845) was a Scottish legal writer and traveller.

Life

He was son of John Glassford of Dougalston by his third wife, Lady Margaret Mackenzie, sixth daughter of George Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromartie. Glassford was admitted a member of the

Faculty of Advocates The Faculty of Advocates () is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary. The Faculty of Advocates is a const ...

in 1793, and became

sheriff-depute A sheriff court () is the principal local civil and criminal court in Scotland, with exclusive jurisdiction over all civil cases with a monetary value up to , and with the jurisdiction to hear any criminal case except treason, murder, and rap ...

Dumbartonshire Dunbartonshire () or the County of Dumbarton is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbartonshire borders Perthshire to the north, Stirling ...

. He succeeded to Dougalston on the death of his elder brother Henry in 1819. Glassford was one of the commissioners of the

Royal Commission A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...

of inquiry into the state of education in Ireland, and in that capacity visited

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

, and

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

in 1824, and

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

in 1826. He also acted as one of the commissioners appointed (1815) for inquiring into the duties and emoluments of the clerks and other officers of the courts of justice in Scotland. He died at Edinburgh on 28 July 1845.

Works

Glassford published: * ''Remarks on the Constitution and Procedure of the Scottish Courts of Law'', Edinburgh, 1812. * ''An Essay on the Principles of Evidence, and their application to subjects of Judicial Enquiry'', Edinburgh, 1812. * ''Exemplum Tractatus de fontibus Juris, and other Latin Pieces of Lord Bacon. Translated by James Glassford, Esq., Advocate'', Edinburgh, 1823. * ''Frondes Caducæ'', Chiswick, 1824. * ''Letter to the Right Hon. Sir John Newport, Bart., M.P., on the subject of the Fees payable in the Courts of Justice and the Stamp Duties on Law Proceedings'', London, 1824. To

Sir John Newport, 1st Baronet Sir John Newport, 1st Baronet (24 October 1756 – 9 February 1843) was an Anglo-Irish Whig politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland. Life Born on 24 October 1756, he was the son of Simon Newport, a banker at Waterford, ...

. * ''Letter to the Right Hon. the Earl of Roden on the present state of Popular Education in Ireland'', London, 1829. * ''Lyrical Compositions selected from the Italian Poets'', with translations, Edinburgh, 1834. A second edition was published in 1846 after the author's death, greatly enlarged. Several of these translations were republished in London in 1886 in a volume of the ''Canterbury Poets'', entitled ''Sonnets of Europe'', edited by Samuel Waddington. * ''Notes of Three Tours in Ireland in 1824 and 1826'', Bristol, 1838. This work was printed for private distribution in 1831. * ''Letter by the Chancellor D'Aguesseau to a Friend on the subject of the Christian Mysteries, by James Glassford, Esq., and extracted by permission from the Scottish "Christian Herald".'' This letter was published in ''Unitarianism tried by Scripture and Experience, … with a General Introduction by a Layman'', London, 1840. * ''Miscellanea'', Edinburgh, pp. 83. This volume, printed at Edinburgh for private circulation, contained translations of

Joseph Addison Joseph Addison (1 May 1672 – 17 May 1719) was an English essayist, poet, playwright, and politician. He was the eldest son of Lancelot Addison. His name is usually remembered alongside that of his long-standing friend Richard Steele, with w ...

's ''Machinæ Gesticulantes'', and Philip Froude's ''Cursus Glaciales''. Glassford also published ''Elegiæ'', no place or date (pp. 31; another edition, pp. 39).

References

* ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Glassford, James 1771 births 1845 deaths Scottish lawyers Scottish writers