Sir John Lauder of Fountainhall, 2nd Baronet, Lord Fountainhall (baptised 2 August 1646 – 20 September 1722) was one of Scotland's leading jurist

Jurist

A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...

s who remains to this day an oft consulted authority. He was knighted in 1680 and matriculated his Arms with the Lyon Court on 15 June 1699.

Life

Lauder was born in 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...

, the eldest son, by his second marriage, of Sir John Lauder, 1st Baronet

Sir John Lauder, 1st Baronet

Sir John Lauder, 1st Baronet, of Newington and Fountainhall was a notable Scottish baillie and Treasurer of the City of Edinburgh, who was raised to a Nova Scotia baronetcy in 1688.-Antecedents:...

, whom he succeeded after much acrimony. He was educated at the High School and the University of Edinburgh

University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...

 graduating, with an M.A., on 18 July 1664. He then went to the Continent, partly with the view of studying law there. After some travels, he lived at Poitiers

Poitiers

Poitiers is a city on the Clain river in west central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and of the Poitou-Charentes region. The centre is picturesque and its streets are interesting for predominant remains of historical architecture, especially from the Romanesque...

 from 28 July 1665 till 24 April 1666, following which he proceeded to Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

, Antwerp, and Leyden, Holland, where he matriculated at Leiden University

Leiden University

Leiden University , located in the city of Leiden, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university was founded in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, leader of the Dutch Revolt in the Eighty Years' War. The royal Dutch House of Orange-Nassau and Leiden University still have a close...

 on 27 September 1666.

Lord Fountainhall was admitted as an Advocate on 5 June 1668, and was counsel for the Earl of Argyll at his trial, 12 & 13 December 1681, and was also one of the advocates chosen by the Duchess of Monmouth to defend her interests during her husband's trial on 15 February 1686. He was called to the Bench on 1 November 1689 as a Lord Ordinary in 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....

 with the title Lord Fountainhall. He was appointed on the 27 January 1690 a Lord of Justiciary, which he resigned after the Union of parliaments, which he had opposed.

In 1692 he was offered the post of Lord Advocate

Lord Advocate

Her Majesty's Advocate , known as the Lord Advocate , is the chief legal officer of the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for both civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolved powers of the Scottish Parliament...

 but declined because the condition was attached that he should not prosecute the persons implicated in the Glencoe Massacre. Sir George Mackenzie

George Mackenzie (lawyer)

Sir George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh, Knt. , known as Bluidy Mackenzie, was a Scottish lawyer, Lord Advocate, and legal writer.- Origins :...

, who had been Lord Advocate under King 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...

, also refused to concur in this partial application of the penal laws, and his refusal (unlike Fountainhall's) led to his temporary disgrace.

Sir John was a Justice of the Peace

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

 for Haddingtonshire in 1683 and a Burgess of Edinburgh (2 November 1687). He was the Commissioner for Haddingtonshire (1685-86, 1690-1707), and spoke several times against the Union.

Lord Fountainhall left a large collection of legal opinions and papers, including some that record Court of Session proceedings from 1678 to 1712, which also note the transactions of the Privy Council of Scotland

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 those of the Courts of Justiciary and Exchequer, works compiled with anecdotes of the times and much characteristic ingenuity of observation, to which professional lawyers still turn today.

He married twice:

1. 21 January 1669, at the Tron Kirk
   Tron Kirk
   The Tron Kirk is a former principal parish church in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is a well-known landmark on the Royal Mile. It was built in the 17th century, and closed as a church in 1952...
   
   , Edinburgh, Janet (1652-1686), daughter of Sir Andrew Ramsay, Lord Abbotshall, 1st Baronet, Lord Provost
   Lord Provost
   A Lord Provost is the figurative and ceremonial head of one of the principal cities of Scotland. Four cities, Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow, have the right to appoint a Lord Provost instead of a provost...
   
    of Edinburgh and Senator of the College of Justice
   College of Justice
   The College of Justice is a term used to describe the Supreme Courts of Scotland, and its associated bodies.The constituent bodies of the supreme courts of Scotland are the Court of Session, the High Court of Justiciary, and the Accountant of Court's Office...
   
   , (d. 1688), by his wife Janet née Craw. They had six sons (of whom Andrew Lauder, in Edinburgh, and David Lauder of Huntlywood, Berwickshire
   Berwickshire
   Berwickshire or the County of Berwick is a registration county, a committee area of the Scottish Borders Council, and a lieutenancy area of Scotland, on the border with England. The town after which it is named—Berwick-upon-Tweed—was lost by Scotland to England in 1482...
   
   , were Advocates) and four daughters.
2. 26 March 1687, at Edinburgh, Marion, daughter of the Reverend John Anderson, of Balram, Minister of Dysart
   Dysart
   Dysart is a former town and royal burgh located on the south-east coast between Kirkcaldy and West Wemyss in Fife. The town is now considered to be a suburb of Kirkcaldy. Dysart was once part of a wider estate owned by the St Clair or Sinclair family...
   
   . They had three sons and three daughters.

Lord Fountainhall died at Edinburgh and was interred in the Lauder vault within Greyfriars Kirk

Greyfriars Kirk

Greyfriars Kirk, today Greyfriars Tolbooth & Highland Kirk, is a parish kirk of the Church of Scotland in central Edinburgh, Scotland...

. His Testament dated 2 December 1706 was not Proved until more than sixteen years later. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son Sir John Lauder, 3rd Baronet

Sir John Lauder, 3rd Baronet

Sir John Lauder of Fountainhall, 3rd Baronet was born 3 and baptised 5 December 1669 at Greyfriars Kirk, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland. He died in February 1728 at Fountainhall manor, near Pencaitland, and was interred in the Lauder burial vault within Greyfriars...

.