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Alexander Moncrieff (1870-1949), later Lord Moncrieff, was of legal lineage. His grandfather founded a legal firm, Moncrieff, Warren, Paterson & Co (which in 1985 merged with McGrigor Donald), and his father (d. 1870) became sheriff of Ross and Cromarty. Moncrieff was a student at Glasgow University, then Edinburgh University, and was called to the bar in 1894. In 1912 he was created a King's Counsel and quickly established a reputation for his mastery of cases. His learning extended to a love of classics and English literature, manifested in an address to the Edinburgh Juridical Society in 1922, 'The poetry of law'. In January 1926 he was created a Senator of the College of Justice with the title of Lord Moncrieff. He was the judge for the original Court of Session hearing in the action Donoghue v. Stevenson (in 1929), the famous case commonly known as the 'Snail in the bottle' case. The case became the foundation stone in the modern law of negligence in common law jurisdictions worldwide, touching on whether a manufacturer had a duty of care towards a consumer. In 1947 Moncrieff was sworn of the Privy Council; earlier that year he became Lord Justice Clerk. He and his wife, Helen Spens, had three children. Lord Moncrieff died on 5 Aug 1949. |