James Ferguson, Lord Pitfour
| James Ferguson, Lord Pitfour | |
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Lord Pitfour
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| Born | 1700 Pitfour, Aberdeenshire, Scotland |
| Died | 25 June 1777 Gilmerton, Midlothian, Great Britain |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Occupation | Advocate |
James Ferguson, Lord Pitfour (1700–25 June 1777) was a Scottish advocate and second Laird of Pitfour, a large estate in Buchan. His flourishing law practice was sited opposite Parliament House in Edinburgh. He became Dean of the Faculty of Advocates in 1722 and was elevated to the bench, becoming Lord Pitfour, in 1764. Pitfour was described as one of the greatest lawyers in the country. However, by the time he became a judge he was past his prime intellectually and thus did not make as much of an impact in that role. A Jacobite sympathiser, he is best known for his defence of rebels standing trial at Carlisle after the Jacobite risings.
Ferguson inherited the Pitfour estate on the death of his father, James Ferguson, 1st Laird of Pitfour. He purchased additional lands and expanded the estate, which became known as "the Blenheim of the North". A staunch Episcopalian, he had a private Qualified Chapel built on the estate. He also established a small village and arranged for plantations of Douglas firs near the mansion house.
Ferguson was born at Pitfour in 1700 shortly after his father, also named James, had purchased the estate. Ferguson's father was the first Laird of Pitfour and previously had the honorific James Fergusson of Badifurrow. His mother was Ann Stuart. In 1733 Ferguson married Anne Murray (1708–1793), a sister of Patrick Murray, 5th Lord Elibank and James Murray, a British army officer who became Governor of Quebec. They had three sons. The eldest, James (1736–1820), became a politician; Patrick (1744–1780) invented the Ferguson rifle, a breech-loading flintlock weapon; and the youngest, George (1748–1820), became Lieutenant Governor of Tobago in 1779. Ferguson also had three daughters: Ann, Elizabeth and Jane.
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