Robert Dundas, of Arniston, the elder
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The Right Honourable Robert Dundas |
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| Lord President of the Court of Session | |
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In office 1748–1753 |
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| Preceded by | Duncan Forbes, Lord Culloden |
| Succeeded by | Robert Craigie, Lord Glendoick |
| Lord Advocate | |
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In office 1720–1725 |
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| Preceded by | Sir David Dalrymple |
| Succeeded by | Duncan Forbes, Lord Culloden |
| Solicitor General for Scotland | |
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In office 1717–1720 |
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| Preceded by | Sir James Stewart |
| Succeeded by | Walter Stewart |
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Member of Parliament for Edinburghshire |
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In office 1722–1737 |
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| Constituency | Edinburghshire |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 December 1685 Scotland |
| Died | 26 August 1753 Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Watson Anne Gordon |
| Children |
Robert Dundas of Arniston, the younger Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville |
Robert Dundas of Arniston, the Elder, 2nd Lord Arniston (1685–1753) was a Scottish lawyer, politician and judge.
The second son of Robert Dundas (d. 1726) he served as Solicitor General for Scotland from 1717 to 1720 and as Lord Advocate from 1720 to 1725. He was Dean of the Faculty of Advocates from 1721.
He was Member of Parliament for Midlothian from 1722 to 1727, 1727 to 1734 and 1734–7; He was chief adviser of Lord Ilay's opponents. He was Lord President of the Court of Session from 1748 to 1753. In 1728 he reintroduced into Scottish juries the possible verdicts of guilty or not guilty as against proven or not proven.
Robert Dundas was the second son of Robert Dundas, Lord Arniston, a judge of the court of session, who died in 1726, by Margaret, daughter of Sir Robert Sinclair of Stevenson, was born on 9 December 1685.
Dundas was admitted a member of the Faculty of Advocates on 26 July 1709, and without any great application soon became a profound lawyer. Interest and talent secured his advancement, and in 1717 he was appointed Solicitor General for Scotland. Though more highly trusted than Sir David Dalrymple, the Lord Advocate, by the Duke of Roxburghe, he felt this an irksome position, and in 1718 applied to succeed Eliot of Minto on the bench; but the place was already given to Sir Walter Pringle. However, he was made, in 1720, Lord Advocate, in succession to Dalrymple. On 9 December 1721 he became dean of the Faculty of Advocates. On 11 July 1721 he resigned the post of assessor to the city of Edinburgh, which he had held previously to his advancement, and an acrimonious correspondence took place between him and the magistrates of Edinburgh.
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