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Charles Scott Dickson was born on 13 September 1850 in Garnethill, Glasgow; the second son of Dr John Robert Dickson. He attended the High School of Glasgow and continued his education at Glasgow University where he graduated with an MA. He subsequently attended Edinburgh University where he took an honours degree in Mathematics and Mental Philosophy. While there he also attended law classes which would prepare him for his future career. In 1871 he won second prize in Scots Law and was awarded first prize by the Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow for his distinction in a written examination. He became an apprentice with a firm of writers in Glasgow and qualified as a law agent in 1875. In 1877 he was admitted a member of the Faculty of Advocates and would live in Edinburgh from this time until his death. He retained his connection with Glasgow by holding the Lectureship on Constitutional Law and History at Glasgow University. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1884. In 1892 he unsuccessfully stood for the Kilmarnock Burghs on the Conservative and Unionist interest. In 1895 and 1896 he contested the Liberal stronghold of Bridgeton and was defeated by Sir George Trevelyan. At the by-election in 1897 he was defeated by Sir Charles Cameron. Dickson contested Bridgeton again at the General Election of 1900, Sir Charles Cameron having retired, and won the seat. He lost it at the General Election in 1906, but returned in 1909 for the Central Division of Glasgow with a majority of over 2,000. He continued to represent the Central Division until he renounced politics for the Bench.
Dickson acted as Advocate-Depute for a short period in 1892 and 1895 which prepared him for his appointment to the office of Solicitor General in 1896. He remained in this position until 1903 when he succeeded Graham-Murray as Lord Advocate. He was Lord Advocate until the winter of 1905-1906, when a Liberal Government came into power. In October 1908 he was elected Dean of the Faculty of Advocates. On the retirement of Lord Kingsburgh in 1915, Dickson became Lord Justice-Clerk under the title of Lord Scott Dickson, and headed the second division of the Court of Session until his death on 5 August 1922.
In his private life Dickson was a member of the Church of Scotland. He was an elder of St George's Parish Church, Edinburgh, and a member of the General Assembly where he advocated the union of the Churches. He was also involved in war work connected with recruiting, child welfare and the Red Cross. He also sat as a member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council until the day before his death. On 22 March 1883 Dickson married Hester Bagot Banks, the daughter of William Banks, engraver and printer.
The Collection was donated to the National Archives of Scotland in 2010 by Mr Ben Whitby. |