Robert Finlay, 1st Viscount Finlay
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Robert Bannatyne Finlay, 1st Viscount Finlay, GCMG (July 11, 1842 – March 9, 1929) was a British lawyer and politician who became Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.
Born in Newhaven, Edinburgh, Finlay was educated at the Edinburgh Academy and Edinburgh University, graduating in medicine in 1863. After entering Middle Temple as a student in 1865, he was called to the bar two years later and built up a successful practice, becoming a Queen's Counsel in 1882. Three years later he was elected Liberal Member of Parliament for the Inverness Burghs, losing his seat in 1892 but regaining it three years later, the same year he was appointed Solicitor General and knighted.
In 1900, Finlay became Attorney General for England and Wales and also became President of the Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club and gave the Toast to Sir Walter at the clubs annual dinner. In 1902 was elected Lord Rector of Edinburgh University. For his services in representing the British Empire in a number of international legal arbitrations he was appointed GCMG in 1904, and the following year became a Privy Counsellor. However, in the 1906 general election he again lost his seat, and it was to be another four years before he returned to Parliament as representative for Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities.
In 1916, Sir Robert Finlay became Lord Chancellor in Lloyd George's coalition government, being at the same time created Baron Finlay, of Nairn in the County of Nairnshire. He sat on the Woolsack for three years, and in 1919, on his retirement, was created Viscount Finlay, of Nairn in the County of Nairnshire. The following year he was appointed a British member of the Court of Arbitration at The Hague, and in 1921 was elected a Judge of the Permanent Court of International Justice established by the League of Nations.
Lord Finlay died aged 86 at his home in Kensington, London, and was buried at Nairn.
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir Robert Threshie Reid |
Solicitor General 1895–1900 |
Succeeded by Sir Edward Carson |
| Preceded by Sir Richard Everard Webster |
Attorney General of England and Wales 1900–1905 |
Succeeded by Sir John Walton |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by The Lord Buckmaster |
Lord Chancellor 1916–1919 |
Succeeded by The Lord Birkenhead |
| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by Marquess of Dufferin and Ava |
Rector of the University of Edinburgh 1902–1905 |
Succeeded by Richard Haldane |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by New Creation |
Viscount Finlay 1919–1929 |
Succeeded by William Finlay |
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