Dundas

Dundas (of Arniston), the name of a Scottish family singularly distinguished for legal and political talent. Sir James Dundas, the first of Arniston, received the honour of knighthood from James VI., and was governor of Berwick. His son, Sir James Dundas, was appointed a judge of the Court of Session in 1662, and took his seat on the bench under the title of Lord Arniston, but was soon after deprived of his office for refusing to abjure the 'National and Solemn League and Covenant.' He died in 1679. His eldest son, Sir Robert Dundas, who also rose to the bench, died in 1726.—ROBERT DUNDAS, the son of the preceding, was born 9th December 1685; became a member of the Faculty of Advocates in 1709; and in 1717 was appointed Solicitor-general for Scotland, an office which he filled with great ability in a period of much political confusion. In 1720 he was made Lord Advocate; and in 1722 was chosen to represent Midlothian in the British parliament, where he honourably distinguished himself by his attention to Scottish affairs. Sir Robert Walpole coming into power in 1725, Dundas resigned his office, when he was elected Dean of the Faculty of Advocates. In 1737 he was raised to the bench, when, like his father and grandfather, he took the title of Lord Arniston. On the death of Lord President Forbes of Culloden in 1748, he was appointed his successor. He died in 1753. As an advocate, Dundas was a powerful and ingenious reasoner, and though somewhat disliked on the bench, his ability was universally admitted.—ROBERT, his eldest son, was born 18th July 1713, studied at Edinburgh and Utrecht, was admitted to the Scottish bar in 1738, and rose to be Lord Advocate (1754) and President of the Court of Session (1760). He died at Edinburgh, 13th December 1787. See The Arniston Memoirs, by George W. T. Omond (1887).