Richard Vary Campbell

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

FSA (1840–1901) was a Scottish advocate and author of legal books, who rose to be Sheriff of

Roxburgh Roxburgh () is a civil parish and formerly a royal burgh, in the historic county of Roxburghshire in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was an important trading burgh in High Medieval to early modern Scotland. In the Middle Ages it had at lea ...

. He was also a Commissioner of the

Northern Lighthouse Board The Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) is the general lighthouse authority for Scotland and the Isle of Man. It is a non-departmental public body responsible for ocean, marine navigation aids around coastal areas. History The NLB was formed by ...

Life

Richard Campbell was born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

on 4 August 1840, the son of David Campbell, a wine and spirit merchant from a

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

family, and Jane Vary, he was educated at Glasgow High School. He then studied Philosophy at

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

(graduating MA in 1861) and began a legal apprenticeship with Robert Lamond before moving to

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 ...

to study Scots Law and Civil Law, graduating LLB. He then studied further at

Heidelberg University Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest unive ...

before being appointed to the Scottish Bar. He became an advocate in 1864. He rose to be Sheriff of Dumfries and Galloway in 1890 and from 1896 was Sheriff of Roxburgh, Berwick and Selkirk. In 1886, Richard unsuccessfully stood as the

Liberal Unionist Party The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...

's candidate to be Member of Parliament for the Glasgow College constituency, losing to Sir Charles Cameron. Richard was an expert on Church Law and addressed the

General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the sovereign and highest court of the Church of Scotland, and is thus the Church's governing body.''An Introduction to Practice and Procedure in the Church of Scotland'' by A. Gordon McGillivray, ...

on several occasions. He was Chairman of the Edinburgh Street Tramways Association and a Commissioner of the Northern Lighthouse Board. He was later elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

in 1898, his proposers including Sir Stair Agnew. Richard later died at his home, 37 Moray Place in

, at 10am on 10 November 1901, ten days after catching a cold whilst attending a wedding in

Peebles Peebles () is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in ...

. Richard is buried in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and o ...

in western Edinburgh. The grave lies facing the southern path of the northern Victorian extension.

Family

Campbell married exceptionally late in life. He married at Stow on 21 March 1900 Janet Jamieson (1840–1914), widow of Alexander Wylie, Writer of the Signet. She is buried with him.

Publications

*''Registration Law'' *''Lectures on Mercantile Law'' (1890) *''The Reform Act of 1868''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Richard Vary 1840 births 1901 deaths People associated with Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Liberal Unionist Party parliamentary candidates Fellows_of_the_Society_of_Antiquaries_of_London