Malcolm Laing
Malcolm Laing (* 1762 in Orkney , Scotland , † November 6, 1818 ) was a Scottish politician and writer.
Life
Malcolm Laing was born as the first son of Robert Laing on his estate in the Orkney Islands . He attended high school in Kirkwall and then studied at Edinburgh University . In July 1785, Laing was admitted to the bar in Scotland. However, his pleadings were considered linguistically awkward and he worked with limited success. This gave Laing the time to deal with history and literature. In 1793 he contributed to the completion of the sixth volume of the series The History of Great Britain and in 1800 published his own work entitled History of Scotland , which covers Scottish history between 1603 and 1707. On September 10, 1805, Laing married his wife Margaret. The marriage remained childless. As a result of his numerous activities, Laing suffered a collapse in 1808 and largely withdrew. He died in November 1818.
Political career
In 1794, Laing began to coordinate the electoral interests of Thomas Dundas, 1st Baron Dundas , who was narrowly defeated by his opponent John Balfour in the 1790 elections . After Robert Honyman Dundas promised to use Laing as sheriff on Orkney as soon as a position became available, both of them supported Honyman's candidacy in the 1796 election. Honyman won unopposed. He broke his promise in 1801, after which Laing was promised support should he want to run for election himself. However, Laing supported Honyman, who defended his seat in the 1802 elections.
In the 1806 elections, Laing expressed his interest in running for the constituency of Orkney and Shetland . For tactical reasons and because he was offered a candidacy in the constituency of Tain Burgh , Laing waived in favor of Honyman 's nephew of the same name , who won the elections unopposed . After the dissolution of Parliament the following year, Laing ran unopposed for Orkney and Shetland and entered the British House of Commons in June 1807 . Laing took an active part in parliamentary life. He gave his last recorded speech on May 5, 1808. Despite health problems, he retained his seat in parliament until the end of the electoral term in 1812. He did not run for any further election and resigned from the House of Commons.
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Laing, Malcolm |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Scottish politician, member of the House of Commons and writer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1762 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Orkney , Scotland |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 6, 1818 |