John Riddell (genealogist)
John Riddell (1785 – 8 February 1862) was a Scottish peerage lawyer and genealogist.
Life[]
He was eldest son of Anne, eldest daughter of John Glassford of Dougalston, by Anne, daughter of Sir John Nisbet of Dean, and Henry Riddell of . Educated for the law, he was called to the Scottish bar in 1807.[1]
Riddell made genealogy and Scottish peerage law a special study. He prepared the Crawford and Montrose peerage cases for James Lindsay, 24th Earl of Crawford.[1]
Riddell died unmarried at his house, 57 Melville Street, Edinburgh,[2] on 8 February 1862. He was buried in the Dean Cemetery on the west side of the city.
He left a number of manuscripts which, in terms of his will, were acquired by the Advocates' and Signet Libraries, Edinburgh.[1]
Works[]
Riddell enjoyed genealogical research for its own sake, and his speciality earned him an allusion in The Lay of the Last Minstrel. His works were:[1]
- The Saltfoot Controversy, with a Reply; also an Appendix containing some Remarks on the present State of the Lyon Office, Edinburgh.
- Reply to the Mis-statements of Dr. Hamilton of Bardowie respecting the Descent of his Family; with Remarks on the Claim of the Lennoxes of Woodhead to the Male Representation and Honours of the Original Earls of Lennox, Edinburgh, 1828.
- Remarks upon Scottish Peerage Law, with special Reference to the Case of the Earldom of Devon, 1833, Edinburgh.
- Tracts, Legal and Historical; containing (1) Reply to Mr. Tytler's Historical Remarks on the Death of Richard II; (2) Observations upon the Representation of the Rusky and Lennox Families, and other Points in Mr. Napier's Memoirs of Merchiston; (3) Remarks upon the Law of Legitimation per subsequens matrimonium; the Nature of our English Canons and the Legitimacy of the Stewarts, Edinburgh, 1835.
- Additional Remarks upon the Question of the Lennox or Rusky Representation, and other Topics, Edinburgh, 1835.
- Inquiry into the Law and Practice in Scottish Peerages before and after the Union, involving the Questions of Jurisdiction and Forfeitures; with an Exposition of our original Consistorial Law, 2 vols., 1842, Edinburgh; based on Remarks upon Scottish Peerage Law, it became a standard work on its subject.
- Stewartiana; being more about the Case of Robert II, and his Issue, Edinburgh, 1843.
- Comments in Refutation of Pretensions as to the Representation of the ancient Stirlings of Calder: a Review of "The Stirlings of Keir", Edinburgh, 1860.
Notes[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Lee, Sidney, ed. (1896). . Dictionary of National Biography. 48. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- ^ "Edinburgh Post Office annual directory, 1832-1833". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1896). "Riddell, John". Dictionary of National Biography. 48. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- 1785 births
- 1862 deaths
- Scottish lawyers
- Scottish genealogists