| Administrative History | John Adam Lillie was a graduate of the Universities of Aberdeen (MA 1906) and Edinburgh. He trained with Messrs Baillie & Gifford, W.S. and Messrs Davidson & Syme, W.S., and was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in November 1912. From 1928 - 1947 he was lecturer in Mercantile Law at Edinburgh University, during which time he also declined an invitation from another Scottish University to be Professor of Scots Law. In 1923 he prepared with Allan McNeil what was to become the standart textbook on 'The Mercantile Law of Scotland.' He also contributed articles on 'Company Law' and 'Sale of Goods' to the 'Encyclopaedia of the Laws of Scotland.'
In 1931 he 'took silk' and in 1941 was appointed Sheriff Principal of Fife and Kinross, in which role he also enthusiastically embraced the associated duties of Commissioner of Northern Lights. In this guise he headed the Scottish delegation to the International Technical Conference on Lighthouses and Other Aids to Navigation held in Washington in 1960. Other official roles include membership of the Royal Commission which produced the Beveridge Report, 1940 - 1950; Deputy Chairman and Legal Commissioner for the General Board of Control for Scotland of the mental health services, 1942 - 1962; and Chairman for Scotland of the Board of Referees under the Income Tax Acts, 1942 - 1955. His eminence in the legal profession was recognised by the Faculty of Advocates in 1962, who hosted a dinner to celebrate his 50th year in practice and to whom he became affectionately known in later years as 'Father of the Faculty.' He was also awarded the degre of LL.D. from the University of Aberdeen in 1967. He retired from the office of Sheriff in 1971.
In his free time Sheriff Lillie enjoyed hill walking, swimming and forestry on his hill farm, Wooplaw, in the Scottish Borders. He also had an enduring passion for golf, and in his retirement wrote a warmly-received appreciation of the sport, 'Ninety Years a Golfer.' Other publications from his retirement include an autobiographical social history, 'Tradition and Environment in a Time of Change' (Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press, 1970)and an original investigation into the technique of oral communication, 'Speech Literacy.'
For further details see obituary in 'The Scots Law Times', 17 June 1983. |
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