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Erskine Douglas Sandford

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Erskine Douglas Sandford FRSE (31 July 1793–4 September 1861) was a 19th-century Scottish advocate and legal author.

Life

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He was born at 22 South Frederick Street in Edinburgh's New Town, then a new house, on 31 July 1793 the son of Helen Frances Catherine Douglas and her husband, Bishop Daniel Sandford.[1]

After studying law he passed the Scottish bar as an advocate in 1816.

In 1828 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh his proposer being George Augustus Borthwick.[2] At this time he was living with his family at 25 Heriot Row.[3]

In 1828 he was involved in the trial of William Burke and Helen McDougal for the Burke and Hare Murders.[4] When travelling on a mailcoach in 1829, he realised that one of his fellow passengers was in fact a disguised William Hare (who had been granted immunity from prosecution).[4] This was one of the last reliable sightings of Hare, whose eventual fate is unknown.

In 1833 he replaced Adam Urquhart as Sheriff of Wigtown.[5]

In 1837 he is listed as one of the few contributors to the Scottish Episcopal Fund, a fund begun in 1806 to establish the Scottish Episcopalian Church.[6]

He lived his later life at 11 Randolph Crescent on the edge of the Moray Estate in western Edinburgh.[7]

He died at Alvechurch Rectory on 4 September 1861.[8]

Family

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His uncles were Daniel Keyte Sandford and Francis Sandford, 1st Baron Sandford.[9]

In 1829 he married Joanna Grace Graham (d.1890). They had two daughters and three sons.

He was uncle to Daniel Sandford (Bishop of Tasmania)

Publications

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  • A Treatise on the History and Law of Entails in Scotland
  • A Treatise on the Law of Heritable Succession in Scotland

References

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  1. ^ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1794
  2. ^ Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  3. ^ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1829
  4. ^ a b Forrester, J. P. (1890). Old Reminiscences of Glasgow and the West of Scotland, Volume 2. Glasgow. p. 520.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  5. ^ The Gentleman's Magazine October 1833
  6. ^ Edinburgh Almanac 1837
  7. ^ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1860
  8. ^ The Gentleman's Magazine October 1861
  9. ^ "Person Page". www.thepeerage.com. Retrieved 2 June 2019.