Sir Robert Dundas, 1st Baronet

Sir Robert Dundas, 1st Baronet of Beechwood FRSE (30 June 1761 – 4 January 1835) was a Scottish landowner and lawyer.

Life
Beechwood House in west Edinburgh
32 Heriot Row, Edinburgh

He was born on 30 June 1761 the son of Elizabeth and the Rev Robert Dundas of Humbie in East Lothian. He was trained as a lawyer, probably at the University of Edinburgh, and with a legal apprenticeship under James Balfour, and became a Writer to the Signet in 1785. He was Principal Clerk of Session to the Edinburgh High Courts 1817 to 1830. In 1820 he was Deputy to the Lord Privy Seal of Scotland, his in-law Robert Saunders Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville.

In 1820 on the death of his uncle, General Sir David Dundas, he inherited the estate of Beechwood near Corstorphine in western Edinburgh.[1] In 1824 he acquired the huge Dunira estate in Perthshire, but appears to have passed it immediately to his son, David Dundas. The estate had belonged to the late Henry Dundas who had died in 1811. The acquisition implies a blood relationship to Henry Dundas, but that relationship is unclear, due to complex marriages between various branches of the Dundas family.

Dundas was created a Baronet of Beechwood in the County of Midlothian on 24 August 1821.[2]

In 1823 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, his proposer being Sir William Arbuthnot, 1st Baronet during his second term as Lord Provost of Edinburgh.[3]

He died at his Edinburgh townhouse, 32 Heriot Row[4] on 4 January 1835.[5]

Family

He married Matilda Cockburn daughter of Janet Rennie and her husband, Archibald Cockburn (1738–1820).

They had seven daughters and one son, David Barnett Dundas. Their daughter Robina Mary Dundas (d.1905) married Vice Admiral Henry Dundas, son of Robert Dundas of Arniston.

Artistic recognition

He was painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence, one of Britain's foremost portrait painters of his day.

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References
  1. "Philip Mould | Historical Portraits | Portrait of Sir Robert Dundas, 1st Bt., of Beechwood (1761 1835) | Sir Thomas Lawrence PRA | Item Details". www.historicalportraits.com. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  2. "No. 17730". The London Gazette. 28 July 1821. p. 1555.
  3. 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.
  4. Edinburgh and Leith Post Office directory 1835–36
  5. "Person Page". www.thepeerage.com. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baronet
(of Beechwood)
1821–1835		 Succeeded by
David Dundas
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