John Cockburn (Scottish politician)

John Cockburn (/ˈkoʊbərn/ KOH-bərn) (died 12 November 1758) of Ormiston, East Lothian, was a Scottish landowner and politician who sat in the Parliament of Scotland from 1702 to 1707 and as a Whig in the British House of Commons for 34 years from 1707 to 1741.

Ormiston Hall, prior to the WWII fire which left it in ruins

Cockburn was the son of Adam Cockburn of Ormiston, Lord Justice Clerk, who he succeeded in 1735. He is known as the father of Scottish husbandry.

In 1702, Cockburn became a Shire Commissioner for Haddington in the Parliament of Scotland and took an active interest in accomplishing the union.[1] He was the first representative of East Lothian in the parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain.[2] He continued to hold that seat in all successive parliaments until 1741. He was one of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty.[3]

Cockburn built Ormiston Hall on his estate at Ormiston. This last Cockburn of Ormiston was an enthusiastic entrepreneur and eventually ruined himself as a result of which his estates were sold to the Earl of Hopetoun.

Cockburn died in his son's house in the Navy Office, London, England. He had firstly married Beatrix, daughter of John Carmichael, 1st Earl of Hyndford, by whom he had no issue and secondly married Arabella, the daughter and coheiress of Anthony Rowe of Muswell Hall, Middlesex, with whom he had a son. His natural son, George Cockburne (d.1770), was a captain in the Royal Navy, and married Caroline, daughter of George Forrester, 5th Lord Forrester, with female issue.