John Hill Burton

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Bust of John Hill Burton on his wife's grave, Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh (Sculptor: William Brodie in 1881)

John Hill Burton (born August 22, 1809 in Aberdeen , † August 10, 1881 ) was a Scottish historian , writer and lawyer .

Life

Burton studied for his education at Aberdeen Grammar School and at Marischal College in Aberdeen law . From 1831 he worked as a lawyer in Edinburgh . At the same time dealt with literary work. His first writing projects were essays for the Westminster Review ; he later also contributed to the Edinburgh Review and Blackwood's Magazine . The lawyer, who initially lived in precarious economic circumstances, became known for his Manual of the Law of Scotland , published in 1839 . In 1846 he achieved a high public reputation through his work Life of David Hume , which was based on the evaluation of previously unknown source material. In 1854 he was appointed Secretary to the Prison Authority for Scotland. On August 29, 1867 he was entrusted with the post of royal historiographer for Scotland. In 1877 he was promoted to Commissioner of the Scottish Prisons Authority. The introduction of scientific research into Scottish historiography is considered an enduring achievement of Burton.

In 1847 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh .

Works

  • "Manual of the law of Scotland" (1839, numerous editions)
  • "The law of bankruptcy" (1845)
  • "Life and correspondence of David Hume" (1846, 2 parts);
  • "Lives of Simon Lord Lovat and Duncan Forbes of Culloden" (1847)
  • "Manual of political and social economy" (1849)
  • »Emigration« (1851)
  • "Narratives from criminal trials in Scotland" (1852, 2 vols.)
  • "History of Scotland from the revolution to the extinction of the last Jacobite insurrection" (1853, 2 parts)
  • "The book-hunter" (1862; new edition, with biography of Burton's widow, 1882; 1900)
  • "The Scot abroad" (1864, 2 vols .; new edition 1900),
  • "The history of Scotland from Agricola's invasion to the revolution of 1688" (1867–70, 7 vols .; 2nd ed. 1873, 8 vols.)
  • "History of the reign of Queen Anne" (1880, 3 vols.)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon , Volume 3. Leipzig 1905, p. 646
  2. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica , 1911, Volume 4, Burton, John Hill
  3. ^ Fellows Directory. Biographical Index: Former RSE Fellows 1783–2002. Royal Society of Edinburgh, accessed October 14, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Burton, John Hill
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish writer, historian and lawyer
DATE OF BIRTH August 22, 1809
PLACE OF BIRTH Aberdeen , Scotland
DATE OF DEATH August 10, 1881