John Cockburn of Ormiston (died 1623) was a Scottish lawyer and landowner.
Career He was the son of John Cockburn of Ormiston and Alison Sandilands (died 1584), a daughter of Sir John Sandilands of Calder.Thomas Cockburn-Hood, House of Cockburn of that Ilk (Edinburgh, 1888), pp. 135-141. His older brother Alexander Cockburn died in 1563, his epitaph by George Buchanan recording his travels and achievements engraved on a brass plate is at the National Museum of Scotland.NMS acc. no. Q.L.1950.11.
John Cockburn succeeded his father as laird of Ormiston in East Lothian in 1583.Gordon Donaldson, Register of the Privy Seal: 1581-1584, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1982), p. 440 no. 2513.
James VI came to Ormiston to hunt deer on 22 November 1588.HMC Salisbury Hatfield, vol. 3 (London, 1889), p. 373 no. 762. Cockburn was a member of the Privy Council and the council ruling Scotland when James VI was in Norway and Denmark.Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1589-1593, vol. 10 (Edinburgh, 1936), pp. 179, 376, 300, 683.
He was knighted at the coronation of Anne of Denmark on 17 May 1590, where he gave an oath of loyal service on behalf of the people of Scotland.David Stevenson, Scotland's Last Royal Wedding (Edinburgh, 1997), p. 106. He was again honored with knighthood at Parliament in 1592.
Cockburn was Lord Justice Clerk after Lewis Bellenden. On 26 October 1591, during the North Berwick witch trials James VI gave him a commission to torture and punish those accused of witchcraft who refused to confess.Thomas Cockburn-Hood, House of Cockburn of that Ilk (Edinburgh, 1888), p. 147. Cockburn questioned David Graham of Fintry about the Spanish Blanks affair in February 1593.Annie Cameron, Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 58 no. 30.
An English diplomat Robert Bowes noted that Cockburn had hosted the Earls of Angus, Huntly, Errol, and Sir James Chisholme at Ormiston on 11 October 1593. The Earls met the King on the road at Fala the next day.Annie Cameron, Calendar State Papers Scotland, 1593-1595, vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), pp. 201-2 nos. 155-6.
In December 1593, Cockburn was appointed to a committee to audit the account of money spent by the Chancellor, John Maitland of Thirlestane, on the royal voyages. The funds in question came from the English subsidy and the dowry of Anne of Denmark.Miles Kerr-Peterson & Michael Pearce, 'James VI's English Subsidy and Danish Dowry Accounts, 1588-1596', Scottish History Society Miscellany XVI (Woodbridge, 2020), p. 6.
As a member of the Privy Council, Cockburn went with others to Stirling Castle in May 1603 to discuss and investigate a controversy involving Anne of Denmark who wished to take custody of her son, Prince Henry.Melros Papers (Edinburgh, 1837), pp. 3-4.
Later years
In old age Cockburn lost his eyesight and mobility, and in December 1622 there were discussions about a replacement in the role of Lord Justice Clerk.Melros Papers, vol. 2 (London, 1837), pp. 484-5.
He died in June 1623 according to Balfour, but his will gives his date of death as October 1626.James Balfour, Annales of Scotland, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1824), p. 97.
Marriage and family He married Janet Home, a daughter of Alexander Home of Manderston, and sister of the royal favourite Sir George Home.Annie I. Cameron, Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1593-1595, vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 202. Janet Home was one of the women invited to attend Anne of Denmark at her coronation in May 1590.Maureen Meikle, 'Anna of Denmark's Coronation and Entry', Julian Goodare & Alasdair A. MacDonald, Sixteenth-Century Scotland (Brill, 2008), p. 284.
Their children included:Thomas Cockburn-Hood, House of Cockburn of that Ilk (Edinburgh, 1888), p. 147. Patrick Cockburn, who married Elizabeth Lawson, their son George Cockburn became laird of Ormiston Margaret Cockburn, who married Patrick Sinclair, 9th Lord Sinclair Catherine Cockburn, who married James MacGill of Cranstoun-Riddill, later made Viscount Oxenfurd Helen Cockburn, who married William Hay of Linplum Jean Cockburn, married (1) John Murray of Touchadam, (2) William Lauder of Haltoun He married, secondly, Elizabeth Bellenden, a daughter of John Bellenden of Auchnoule and Janet Seton, and widow of James Lawson of Humbie.Thomas Cockburn-Hood, House of Cockburn of that Ilk (Edinburgh, 1888), p. 142.
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