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Personal data
Name
William Cochrane
Date of birth (prefix)
about
Born 1733
Died January 20, 1766
in Marseille, France
Alias
of Waterside
Biography

Son of James Cochrane (d. 1762)1  and Cecilia Oliphant. A second cousin of JB's mother, Euphemia, both being grandchildren of William Cochrane of Ochiltree (d. 1716). Judge Advocate for Scotland (1757-after 1762).2  

  • 1James Cochrane was Judge-Advocate for Scotland (1748-1757) and was succeeded by his son (i.e. William).
  • 2Notice of his appointment in Gentleman's Magazine, February, 1757.
Life with Boswell

On February 21, 1763 Boswell received an anonymous and rather humorous letter, which turned out to be from Cochrane who visited him in his London lodgings on the next day. When they met on February 27, however, Boswell quickly tired of him, and described him as "affected, vulgar, and snappish". They dined together again on April 21, 1763.