Thomas Erskine, 1st Baron Erskine
The Lord Erskine | |
|---|---|
Portrait by William Charles Ross | |
| Lord Chancellor Lord High Steward for the trial of: | |
| In office 7 February 1806 – 1 April 1807 | |
| Monarch | George III |
| Prime Minister | The Lord Grenville |
| Preceded by | The Lord Eldon |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Eldon |
| Member of Parliament for Portsmouth | |
| In office 1790–1806 | |
| Preceded by | William Cornwallis |
| Succeeded by | David Montagu Erskine |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 10 January 1750 |
| Died | 17 November 1823 (aged 73) |
| Party | Whig |
| Spouse(s) | (1) Frances Moore (d. 1805) (2) Sarah Buck (d. 1856) |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
Thomas Erskine, 1st Baron Erskine, KT, PC (10 January 1750 – 17 November 1823) was a British lawyer and Whig politician who served as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain from 1806 to 1807 in the Ministry of All the Talents.
The youngest son of the 10th Earl of Buchan, Erskine had brief careers in the Royal Navy and British Army before gaining a degree at Trinity College, Cambridge. Called to the Bar in 1778, he soon established a profitable legal practice. He achieved widespread recognition for his successful defence of radicals, including Thomas Paine, John Horne Tooke, and Thomas Hardy, who were accused of seditious libel and treason. He sat as a Member of Parliament for Portsmouth from 1783 to 1784 and from 1790 to 1806, though his parliamentary contributions were less acclaimed than his advocacy in court. He was appointed Lord Chancellor in 1806 and created Baron Erskine of Restormel.
Following his departure from office when the ministry fell in 1807, Erskine was not permitted as ex-chancellor to return to legal practice but remained active in the House of Lords. Among the causes he took up in his retirement was animal welfare; he introduced a bill in the House of Lords for the prevention of cruelty to animals. Erskine, who was married twice and had eleven children, died in 1823 at the home of his brother's widow at Almondell in West Lothian and was buried nearby at Uphall.