Patton, George (1803 -1869)

The first crest and the motto are those granted to James Patton of Glenalmond, Sheriff Clerk of the County of Perth, and entered in the Lyon Register 7 December 1809. George Patton of Glenalmond, Lord Justice Clerk of Scotland, was the third son of James Patton of the Cairnies, Sheriff Clerk of the County of Perth. He was educated at Perth and at Edinburgh University, and was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1828. As a Tory he received no preferment until 1859, when he became Solicitor General for Scotland. In 1866 he was returned as Member of Parliament for Bridgewater, and a few weeks later was made Lord Advocate., thus necessitated a by election in which he was defeated. There were allegations of corruption in both elections. When the post of Lord Justice Clerk fell vacant, a post in the gift of the Lord Advocate, he appointed himself, and took the name of Lord Glenalmond. In 1869 he succeeded to the estate of Glenalmond, on the death of his elder brother Thomas. A journalist wrongly reported instead the death of the Lord Justice Clerk, and this so preyed on his mind, that he took his own life on the 20 September 1869. He left a widow, but they had no children.