Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 35.djvu/280

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Macqueen
274
Macqueen

  1. ments,' 8vo, London, 1854, in which he proves the folly of England in going to war with Russia.

To the 'Journals' of the missionaries Isenberg and Krapf (1843) he prefixed a geographical memoir of Abyssinia and south-eastern Africa.

[Proc. of Roy. Geogr. Soc. xiv. 301-2; Morning Advertiser, 17 May 1870, p. 5, col. 2; Markham's Fifty Years' Work of the Roy. Geogr. Soc.]

G. G.

MACQUEEN, JOHN FRASER (1803–1881), lawyer, born in 1803, was eighth, but eldest surviving, son of Donald Macqueen of Corrybrough, Inverness-shire, by Elizabeth, daughter of Hugh Fraser of Bnghtmony in the same county. He eventually succeeded his father in the chiefship of the clan Revan, the tribal designation adopted by the Macqueens. At first he practised as a writer to the signet at Edinburgh, but subsequently became a member of Lincoln's Inn, where he was called to the bar on 8 June 1838, and commenced to practise in the court of chancery. He was at one time frequently engaged in Scottish appeals, and in proceedings for divorce under the old system. For a short time after the passing of the Divorce Act in 1857 he also practised in the divorce court. In 1860 he was appointed by Lord Campbell official reporter of Scottish and divorce appeals in the House of Lords, and he compiled four volumes of appellate reports (1861-5), now very scarce. He continued his reports for several years after the formation of the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting in 1866, but failing health obliged him to nominate a deputy, and in 1879 he resigned the post. He took silk in 1861, and during the same year was made bencher of his inn. Macqueen, who was D.L. and J.P. for Inverness-shire, where he had a seat at Aird, died at 4 Upper Westbourne Terrace, Hyde Park, London, on 6 Dec. 1881. He married in 1840 Georgiana, daughter of George Dealtry, rector of Outwell, Norfolk. Macqueen was a man of genial and kindly disposition, and of considerable literary acquirements.

He published:

  1. 'A Practical Treatise on the Appellate Jurisdiction of the House of Lords and Privy Council, together with the Practice on Parliamentary Divorce,' 8vo, London, 1842.
  2. 'The Rights and Liabilities of Husband and Wife at Law and in Equity, as affected by Modern Statutes and Decisions,' 8vo, London, 1848 [-49]; 2nd edit, by S. Hastings and J. D. Davenport, 1872; 3rd edit, by J.C. and R. B. Russell, 1885.
  3. 'Reports of Scotch Appeals and Writs of Error, together with Peerage, Divorce, and Practice Cases in the House of Lords,' vol. i. 8vo, Edinburgh, 1856. No more was published.
  4. 'Reports of the Debates on the Life Peerage Question,' 8vo, London, 1856, &c.
  5. 'A Practical Treatise on Divorce and Matrimonial Jurisdiction under the Act of 1857,' 8vo. London, 1858; 2nd edit. 1860.
  6. 'Chief Points in the Laws of War and Neutrality, Search and Blockade,' 8vo, London, 1862. He wrote also some legal pamphlets, including an interesting 'Lecture on the Early History and Academic Discipline of the Inns of Court and Chancery,' 1851.

[Times, 8 Dec. 1881, p. 9, col. 6; Law Times, ec. 1881, p. 106; Solicitors' Journal, 24 Dec 1881, p. 129; Law Mag. 4th ser. vii. 215-16; Law Lists.]

G. G.

MACQUEEN, ROBERT, Lord Braxfield (1722–1799), Scottish judge, eldest son of John Macqueen of Braxfield, Lanarkshire, sometime sheriff substitute of the upper ward of that county, by his wife Helen, daughter of John Hamilton of Gilkerscleugh, Lanarkshire, was born on 4 May 1722. He was educated at the grammar school of Lanark and at the university of Edinburgh. Macqueen was apprenticed to a writer to the signet in Edinburgh, and on 14 Feb. 1744 was admitted advocate. He was employed as one of the counsel for the crown in the many intricate feudal questions which arose out of the forfeitures of 1745. Macqueen quickly rained the reputation of being the best feudal lawyer in Scotland, and for many years possessed the largest practice at the bar. He succeeded George Brown of Coalston as an ordinary lord of session, and, assuming the title or Lord Braxfield, took his seat on the bench on 13 Dec. 1776. He was also appointed a lord of justiciary on 1 March 1780, in the place of Alexander Boswell, lord Auchinleck [q. v.] In the same year was Sublished an anonymous 'Letter to Robert [acqueen, Lord Braxfield, on his Promotion to be one of the Judges of the High Court of Justiciary,' Edinburgh, 12mo. This pamphlet, which points out the common failings of Scottish criminal judges, is attributed by Lord Cockburn to James Boswell the elder [q. v.] (Circuit Journeys, 1889, p. 322). On 1 Jan. 1788 Braxfield was promoted to the post of lord-justice clerk, in succession to Thomas Miller of Barskimming, who had been appointed lord president of the court of session. In this capacity he presided at the trials of Muir, Skirving, Margarot, and others, who were proceeded against for sedition in 1793-4. 'In these,' says Lord Cockburn, 'he