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William James Cullen, Lord Cullen (9 September 1859 – 19 June 1941) was a Scottish judge who rose to be a Senator of the College of Justice.
Cullen was the son of Thomas Cullen, an inspector of stamps and taxes in Edinburgh. [1] The family lived at 6 Waterloo Place at the east end of Princes Street. [2]
He was educated at Edinburgh Collegiate School and at the University of Edinburgh, where he graduated with an MA in 1880 [3] and an LLB in 1883. [4]
In 1884, Cullen joined the company of J & F Adam [1] as a writer to the signet, [3] a specialist form of solicitor. He switched to the other branch of the legal profession, and was admitted as an advocate in 1891. [3] He built his reputation specialising in the law of conveyancing, land and inheritance, [1] and took silk in 1905. [5]
From 1905 to 1906, Cullen worked as an advocate depute, a junior prosecutor. [3] In July 1906, he was appointed as Sheriff of Fife and Kinross, replacing the deceased Robert Younger KC. [6] In April 1907 he became an unpaid Commissioner For Lunacy, [7] and in 1909 he was raised to the bench as a Senator of the College of Justice with the judicial title of Lord Cullen, [3] filling the vacancy caused the resignation of Lord Pearson. [8]
An unflamboyant judge who disliked public speaking and avoided ceremonies where possible, [1] Cullen was promoted in 1918 to the Inner House, where he sat in the Valuation Appeal Court. [1] He resigned from the court in 1925, and his seat was given to David Fleming KC, who became Lord Fleming. [9]
In 1888, Cullen married Grace Rutherfurd Clark (1864-1943), from Manchester. [3] They had one daughter, and two sons: [1] Kenneth Douglas Cullen (born 1889), who became an advocate in 1919; [10] and William Geoffrey Langley Cullen (1894-1915) who died whilst serving as a second lieutenant in the Royal Scots during the First World War. [11]
He died at his home 18 Grosvenor Crescent [12] in Edinburgh on 19 June 1941, aged 81. [1]
He is buried in Dean Cemetery in western Edinburgh beneath a simple white cross in the south-west section (to the north of the huge Buchanan monument).
Cullen, Keith Douglas MA LLB. 14 Mar 1919. Son of William James Cullen, born 26 June 1889