Cosmo Innes

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Cosmo Nelson Innes
FRSE
Edinburgh High School
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
Occupation(s)Advocate, judge, historian and antiquary
Parents
  • John Innes (father)
  • Euphemia Russell (mother)

Court sketch of Cosmo Innes, drawn in 1838
The Innes office at 51 North Castle Street, Edinburgh (right door)

Cosmo Nelson Innes

Principal Clerk of Session
.

He was a skilled decipherer of ancient Scottish records and helped to compile, edit and index Acts of the Scottish Parliament 1124–1707. He was said to be tall, handsome but shy. He was accused of being a Catholic sympathiser whilst it remained illegal, and joined the Scottish Episcopal Church, closer in some practices to the Catholic Church. Dean Ramsay, head of the Episcopal Church, was one of his friends.

Life

The home of Cosmo Innes in later life: Inverleith House
The grave of Cosmo Innes, Warriston Cemetery, Edinburgh

Born in

Horatio Nelson's then recent victory at the Battle of the Nile in August 1798. Thirteen of his 14 siblings died, only he and his sister Elizabeth survived.[1] His friends included Alexander Forbes Irvine (1818–1892), whose career closely paralleled his own.[2]

He was educated at

Edinburgh High School, then at the University of Edinburgh under Professor James Pillans.[3] He then undertook further studies at the universities of Aberdeen and Glasgow, and at Balliol College, Oxford (1817–1820)[4] graduating with a BA 1820. He was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1822, and was appointed Professor of Constitutional Law and History at the University of Edinburgh
in 1846.

In the 1830s he lived in

Ramsay Gardens).[5] He had offices with his brother, Thomas Innes, at 51 North Castle Street in the New Town.[6]

From 1840 to 1852 he was

Principal Clerk of Session in the Scottish Court of Session.[3]

In 1843 he became a member of the Edinburgh Calotype Club one of the world's first photographic societies.[8] He was also a member of the Spalding Club, Maitland Club and Bannatyne Club.[3]

In 1858 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Scotland. His proposer was James Thomson Gibson-Craig
. He served as the Society's Vice-President 1862–69.

In later life Innes lived in Inverleith House in northern Edinburgh. The house still exists and is in the grounds of Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Garden. The Garden was formed from Innes' former garden grounds.[9]

He died unexpectedly on 31 July 1874 at Killin while on a "Highland Tour". He was buried on 5 August at Warriston Cemetery in Edinburgh.[10] The grave lies on the east side of the main west path, just beyond the large Celtic cross to Horatio McCulloch. Given that Innes was one of the richest persons in Edinburgh, the gravestone is exceptionally modest.

Works

He was the author of Memoir of Thomas Thomson, Advocate (1854), Scotland in the Middle Ages (1860), Sketches of Early Scottish History (1861), Lectures on Scotch Legal Antiquities (1872) and Reminiscences of Scottish Life and Character (1875, co-written with Dean Ramsay)). He also edited many historical manuscripts for the Bannatyne Club and other antiquarian clubs. He also frequently wrote for the Quarterly Review and North British Review.

Photographic works include "A Tour: The Coast of Spain" (an album of 1857);

Midcalder Church (1856); Dunrobin Castle (1856); and Elgin Cathedral (1856).[11]

Family

In 1826 Innes married Isabella Rose, daughter of

Kilravock. They had nine children: four daughters and five sons.[1]

From 1836 he and his wife were appointed the formal guardian of their niece, Isabella Grant, whose parents had died in India. In 1844, her uncle Captain Alexander Grant, brother of her father Patrick, challenged the guardianship, however the court found the challenge inappropriate as her home was wholly appropriate and was the will of her father.[16]

References

  • "Innes, Cosmo" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
  1. ^ a b "Susan's Family History Site". www.wauchopecottage.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 January 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Obituary – Alexander Forbes Irvine of Drum. By Sheriff Æneas Mackay. (Read January 30, 1893.)". cambridge.org. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  3. ^ a b c "Oxford biography: Cosmo Innes" (PDF). Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  4. ^ "Innes, Cosmo Nelson (INS850CN)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  5. ^ "Edinburgh Post Office annual directory, 1832-1833". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  6. ^ Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1840–41
  7. ISBN 978-1-78027-622-9
  8. ^ "Pencils of Light". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  9. ^ Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1870–1871
  10. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 12 January 2016.
  11. ^ "PSS Members - Cosmo Innes". www.edinphoto.org.uk. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  12. ^ a b c d e f Burton, Katherine (1874). Memoir of Cosmo Innes. W. Paterson. pp. 30, 35, 59, 60, 61.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  13. ^ "Naval and Military Obituary". Dublin Evening Mail. 16 December 1867. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  14. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/98337
    .
  15. ^ W. W. Wroth, 'Innes, Cosmo Nelson (1798–1874)’, rev. H. C. G. Matthew, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed as archived article (no longer current version)
  16. ^ Cases Decided in the Court of Session 1844, December 14, case 34

External links

Wikisource has original works by or about:
Cosmo Innes

Links to several of his works:

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London: J. M. Dent & Sons – via Wikisource.

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