IAN Robertson's life spanned most of the twentieth century and he played a major role in Scottish public life, most prominently in his 21 years as a High Court judge from 1966 to 1987.
The youngest of six children, he was born in Edinburgh to parents from Dundee when his father was already 66. His father had been at school with legendary Scottish missionary Mary Slessor, and then prospered in the jute trade in Calcutta. They were a distinguished family: Ian's eldest brother, Sir James Robertson, was in the Colonial Service in the Sudan and was the last governor general of Nigeria.
Ian was educated at Merchiston Castle School, beginning a life-long commitment to the establishment.
The school set foundations for his interest in sport, music and literature and he developed these when he went to Balliol College, Oxford. To the very end he retained detailed memories of every first-team cricket and rugby match in which he had played at school and university, and of the friends with whom he shared them.
Returning to Scotland, he graduated LLB at Edinburgh University in 1937 and served his apprenticeship as a Writer to the Signet with Shepherd and Wedderburn, but soon he found his preferred field as an advocate.
He regarded his life as having been transformed by his encounter with Anna Glen, a young woman from Florida, at her 21st birthday party at Gleneagles Hotel. They became engaged on their fifth meeting, and they were to share 63 years of married life before Anna died in 2002.
Soon after theirmarriage the Second World War broke out and Ian joined the 8th Royal Scots. Serving first as a weapons instructor, he became an expert in small-arms and small bombs and wrote the instruction manual for a new weapon, the spigot mortar.
Seemingly set for a post in the staff college, he opted instead for active service.
As intelligence officer for the 44th Lowland Brigade, he distinguished himself in the campaign from D-Day to the end of the war. He saw action in Normandy and Belgium and at the crossing of the Rhine, and many of his friends were killed.
He was Mentioned in Despatches and received the territorial decoration. His selfdiscipline enabled him to write an account of the ongoing action, entitled From Normandy to the Baltic, printed in Germany before he returned to Britain.
His family life flourished and his children, Sally, Mary and Jim, were born as his career as an advocate became established. His keen intellect and his skill at marshalling arguments made him sought-after by clients, and he took silk in 1954, later serving as sheriff principal of Ayr and then of Perth. In 1966 he was appointed to the High Court bench.
At the memorial service, reflecting on Ian Robertson's tenure of that office his friend, Lord Mackay of Clashfern, said: "He was a meticulous, courteous and diligent judge and a great believer in the reputation of Scots Law and particularly the criminal law in providing a fair and balanced system for the trial of persons accused of offences. He was sensitive to any interference by the executive in the work of the courts."
He contributed to civic life through a variety of other significant public appointments.
At different times he was the chairman of the Scottish Joint Council forTeachers' Salaries;
an assessor on Edinburgh University court; chairman of the Bush Centre - the Edinburgh Centre for Rural Economy;
chairman of the Centre of Tropical Veterinary Medicine;
chairman of the Scottish Valuation Advisory Council.
The first Scottish judge to be a member of the International Union of Judges, he served for 11 years. He had energy for other interests, too. He played golf into his eighties, particularly at Muirfield, where he was captain from 1970 to 1972, preparing the course and the club for the Open Championship in which Lee Trevino edged out JackNicklaus.
He was chairman of the governors of Merchiston Castle School from 1970 to 1996. His phenomenal memory gave him an encyclopedic knowledge of each boy and the history of his family, and he was an important influence in the school's success throughout these years.
His humour and wit made him a welcome companion in every social setting.
It was in his family circle, however, that Ian found the cornerstone of his own life.
His marriage with Anna gave him the love of a family, and he was a vital part of the lives of not only his three children but each of his nine grandchildren.
In an appropriately sporting metaphor he described himself in his later years as "well into injury-time". For three years he had carried the burden of his failed sight stoically, although he greatly missed reading. Lord Robertson retained his love of life to the end and died peacefully while at rest in his own home.
The Honourable Lord Robertson, Ian Macdonald Robertson; born October 30, 1912, died July 21, 2005.
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