Robert Cutlar Fergusson seems to have been associated with legal circles in the 1790s, probably
coming to London in 1793/4. He went on to study English law at Lincoln's Inn, and was called to
the bar on 4 July 1797. Fergusson's acquaintance with reformers led to his employment as counsel
for John Allen, a personal friend, who was tried with James O'Coigly, Arthur O'Connor, and
others for high treason at Maidstone on 21 and 22 May 1798. At the end of the trial )'Connor attempted an escape (knowing
that, although he would be discharged there were offices awaiting with a second warrant for High Treason).
The resulting fracas, in which O'Connor was re-detained, led to charges against Fergusson and others. Fergusson was imprisoned
for a year and
then went to India where he became a judge.
He returned to Scotland in 1826.
He first appears in the diary with Willis Webb– it is possible that both of them were
law clerks at this time (although little seems to be known about Webb after his time at Cambridge).
Fergusson then also appears at Joseph Clayton Jennings on several occasions – and then again at Thomas Hardy’s trial.
He is also on Joseph Gerrald’s committee
with James Mackintosh, William Maxwell, James
Perry, Thomas Holcroft and Godwin.
From 1796 Fergusson appears at John Debrett’s and Horne
Tooke’s, and increasingly at Tooke’s, but also with Francis Burdett.
There is no entry after the spring of 1799 and he was sentenced at the end of April. There is one entry in 1816, but not much
familiar about the context::
dine at Napier’s
, w. Bruntons, Playfair, Leslie,
Pellings, Ferguson,
[circled:] [w?] pupi[l?]{,} Macdonald, Nairn &
Cadel.
This was when Fergusson
was in India – unless he broke his stay for a trip that included London.
Godwin spelt Fergusson both with and without two s’s, commencing with 'Ferguson' and then (after a
couple of back and forth entries) he switched to 'Fergusson' – although the final entry for 1816 is
Ferguson. This strongly suggests that all up to 1799 are the same person. This
speculation would be firmer if we knew that Webb had gone into the law and was training at the
same time at Lincoln’s Inn; but it is confirmed by Jennings's probable links
to legal circles. The 1796-9 entries that focus on Debrett and Tooke
do suggest that this is Robert Fergusson – and, in the absence of any initial to separate him at
that stage, or any indication in the lists in the 1796 Diary, it seems likely that the earlier
entries are continuous with these.
