Sir John Gilmour of Craigmillar (1605 – 14 August 1671) was a Scottish

Kingdom of Scotland

The Kingdom of Scotland was a Sovereign state in North-West Europe that existed from 843 until 1707. It occupied the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shared a land border to the south with the Kingdom of England...

 judge, who served as Lord President of the Court of Session

Lord President of the Court of Session

The Lord President of the Court of Session is head of the judiciary in Scotland, and presiding judge of the College of Justice and Court of Session, as well as being Lord Justice General of Scotland and head of the High Court of Justiciary, the offices having been combined in 1836...

 from 1661 to 1670. He was the son of John Gilmour, Writer to the Signet, and became an advocate on 12 December 1628.

In 1641 he was appointed by Parliament

Parliament of Scotland

The Parliament of Scotland, officially the Estates of Parliament, was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland. The unicameral parliament of Scotland is first found on record during the early 13th century, with the first meeting for which a primary source survives at...

 to act for the Royalist Earl of Montrose

James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose

James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose was a Scottish nobleman and soldier, who initially joined the Covenanters in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, but subsequently supported King Charles I as the English Civil War developed...

, who was charged with intrigues against the Marquis of Argyll

Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll

Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, 8th Earl of Argyll, chief of Clan Campbell, was the de facto head of government in Scotland during most of the conflict known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, also known as the British Civil War...

. Gilmour subsequently became associated with the Royalist party, and following the Restoration of Charles II

Charles II of England

Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...

 in 1660, he was appointed Lord President of the Court of Session

Lord President of the Court of Session

The Lord President of the Court of Session is head of the judiciary in Scotland, and presiding judge of the College of Justice and Court of Session, as well as being Lord Justice General of Scotland and head of the High Court of Justiciary, the offices having been combined in 1836...

 by the King, on 13 February 1661. The Court of Session

Court of Session

The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland, and constitutes part of the College of Justice. It sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh and is both a court of first instance and a court of appeal....

, the supreme civil court in Scotland, had not sat for the eleven years of the Interregnum

English Interregnum

The English Interregnum was the period of parliamentary and military rule by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the Commonwealth of England after the English Civil War...

, but resumed in June that year. The same year, Gilmour was appointed a privy counsellor

Privy Council of Scotland

The Privy Council of Scotland was a body that advised the King.In the range of its functions the council was often more important than the Estates in the running the country. Its registers include a wide range of material on the political, administrative, economic and social affairs of Scotland...

, and was elected to the Parliament of Scotland, representing Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, and acting as a Lord of the Articles. Although a Royalist, he was a moderate. He sided with Lauderdale

John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale

Sir John Maitland, 1st Duke and 2nd Earl of Lauderdale, 3rd Lord Thirlestane KG PC , was a Scottish politician, and leader within the Cabal Ministry.-Background:...

, the King's chief minister in Scotland, against the Earl of Middleton

John Middleton, 1st Earl of Middleton

John Middleton, 1st Earl of Middleton was a Scottish army officer, who belonged to a Kincardineshire family which had held lands at Middleton since the 12th century....

, who wished to reintroduce Episcopacy into Scotland. After the failed uprising of the Covenanter

Covenanter

The Covenanters were a Scottish Presbyterian movement that played an important part in the history of Scotland, and to a lesser extent in that of England and Ireland, during the 17th century...

s at Rullion Green in 1666, he refused to vote for the execution of the captured rebels.

In 1660, Gilmour purchased the adjacent estates of The Inch and Craigmillar

Craigmillar

Craigmillar , from the Gaelic Crag Maol Ard, meaning 'High Bare Rock', is an area of Edinburgh, Scotland, about south east of the city centre, with Duddingston to the north and Newcraighall to the east.- History :...

, to the south-east of Edinburgh, and renovated part of Craigmillar Castle

Craigmillar Castle

Craigmillar Castle is a ruined medieval castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is situated south-east of the city centre, on a low hill to the south of the modern suburb of Craigmillar. It was begun in the late 14th century by the Preston family, feudal barons of Craigmillar, and extended through the...

 as his home. He resigned as Lord President on 22 December 1670, and died the following year. His son, Sir Alexander Gilmour of Craigmillar, was created a baronet

Gilmour Baronets

There have been four Baronetcies created for persons with the surname Gilmour, two in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia and two in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. The former are both extinct, but the latter two are still both extant....

in 1678.