Biography

John Erskine. (1695-1768) (aka. of Carnock and Cardross; Professor of Law)

Son of John Erskine of Carnock (1662-1743), son of Lord Cardross, and Anna Dundas (d. 1723). Married (1719) to Margaret Melville. Married (1729) to Anne Stirling. He had at least 7 children.

Erskine became a member of the Faculty of Advocates in 1719, and Professor of Scots law at the University of Edinburgh in 1737, a post he kept until his retirement from public life in 1765. In 1754 he published The Institutes of the Law of Scotland which quickly became a standard textbook in Scots law. At the time of his death he was working on Principles of the Law of Scotland, which was completed posthumously by friends and colleagues and published in 1773; it remained an authority on Scots law for several decades following its publication.

Life with James Boswell:

Boswell probably attended some of Erskine's lectures while at the University of Edinburgh in the late 1750s or early 1760s. Boswell considered translating Erskine's Institutes into latin, with the help of Professor Trotz, during his stay in Utrecht in 1763-64.

External links:

• Erskine family tree - from Stirnet
• Biography of John Erskine - at Significant Scots - slightly erroneous

Literature:

18th and 19th century editions of Erskine's Principles and Institutes are usually available via the Abebooks used books search engine.

This article was last updated at January 28 2008 11:57:42 CET

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