John Cockburn (Scottish politician)

John Cockburn (/ˈkbərn/ KOH-bərn) (died 12 November 1758) of Ormiston, East Lothian, was a Scottish landowner and politician who sat in the Parliament of Scotland from 1702 to 1707 and as a Whig in the British House of Commons for 34 years from 1707 to 1741.

Ormiston Hall, prior to the WWII fire which left it in ruins
John Cockburn
Born
Died12 November 1758
NationalityScottish
Occupationlandowner and politician
Political partyParliament of Scotland
Parent(s)

Cockburn was the son of Adam Cockburn of Ormiston, Lord Justice Clerk, who he succeeded in 1735. He is known as the father of Scottish husbandry.

In 1702, Cockburn became a Shire Commissioner for Haddington in the Parliament of Scotland and took an active interest in accomplishing the union.[1] He was the first representative of East Lothian in the parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain.[2] He continued to hold that seat in all successive parliaments until 1741. He was one of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty.[3]

Cockburn built Ormiston Hall on his estate at Ormiston. This last Cockburn of Ormiston was an enthusiastic entrepreneur and eventually ruined himself as a result of which his estates were sold to the Earl of Hopetoun.

Cockburn died in his son's house in the Navy Office, London, England. He had firstly married Beatrix, daughter of John Carmichael, 1st Earl of Hyndford, by whom he had no issue and secondly married Arabella, the daughter and coheiress of Anthony Rowe of Muswell Hall, Middlesex, with whom he had a son. His natural son, George Cockburne (d.1770), was a captain in the Royal Navy, and married Caroline, daughter of George Forrester, 5th Lord Forrester, with female issue.

References

  1. Foster, Joseph, ed. (1882), Members of Parliament, Scotland 1357-1882, Hazell, Watson and Viney, retrieved 21 June 2019
  2. "COCKBURN, John (c.1679-1758), of Ormiston, Haddington". History of Parliament Online (1690-1175). Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  3. "COCKBURN, John (c.1679-1758), of Ormiston, Haddington". History of Parliament Online (1715-1754). Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  • ElectricScotland Profile
  • The House of Cockburn of that Ilk and Cadets Thereof, by Thomas H. Cockburn-Hood (Edinburgh, 1888), page 156.
Parliament of Scotland
Preceded by
Sir Robert Sinclair
Sir John Lauder
William Morison
William Hepburn
Shire Commissioner for Haddington
1702–1707
With: Sir John Lauder
Andrew Fletcher
William Nisbet
Succeeded by
Parliament of Great Britain
Parliament of Great Britain
New parliament Member of Parliament for Scotland
1707–1708
Constituency split
New constituency Member of Parliament for Haddingtonshire
1708–1741
Succeeded by
Lord Charles Hay


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