Biography

James Ferguson. (1700-1777) (aka. Lord Pitfour)

Married (1733) to Anne Murray (1708-1793), a sister of the 5th Lord Elibank. Dean of the (Scottish) Faculty of Advocates until 1764 when he was raised to the bench as Lord Pitfour. Member of The Poker Club.

One of his sons, Patrick, a military man, was killed in action in 1780. (Link)

Life with James Boswell:

Boswell dined with Lord Pitfour on November 9, 1762, describing him as "the greatest lawyer in Scotland and one of the best of men, possessed of good sense, honesty, and meekness". They also met in London on various occasions throughout the spring of 1763. In various journal entries and letters he writes about imitating Pitfour in some way or other.

On July 29, 1763, shortly before leaving for Utrecht, Boswell wrote to Pitfour "that his prophecy that I would return to the law will be fulfilled; and I say that if a saint nowadays obtained the gift of prophecy, none can have a better chance for it than Pitfour.".

This article was last updated at February 07 2008 13:06:11 CET

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