BRUCE, James. b. Aberdeen 1808; editor of the Fifeshire Journal at Cupar; edited successively Madras Athenæum, Newcastle Chronicle and Belfast Northern Whig; author of The black kalendar of Aberdeen 1840; Lives of eminent men of Aberdeen 1841; Table talk 1845; Classic and historic portraits 1853; Scenes and sights in the East 1856. d. Belfast 19 Aug. 1861.
BRUCE, Sir James Lewis Knight (3 son of John Knight of Fairlinch, Devon who d. 1799). b. Barnstaple, Devon 15 Feb. 1791; ed. at Bath gr. sch. and Sherborne 1799–1805; articled to B. C. Williams of Lincoln’s Inn Fields solicitor 1807–12; barrister L.I. 21 Nov. 1817, bencher 6 Nov. 1829, treasurer 1842–3, laid foundation stone of the new hall 20 April 1843; practised in Court of Chancery; K.C. Nov. 1829; recorder of Brecon; M.P. for Bishop’s Castle 30 April 1831 to 3 Dec. 1832; contested borough of Cambridge Aug. 1837; spoke for 7 days in case of Small v. Attwood Nov 1831; leader in Sir Lancelot Shadwell’s court 1834; made £18,000 a year 1835–41; assumed by royal license additional surname of Bruce 4 Sep. 1837; vice chancellor 28 Oct. 1841; knighted at Windsor Castle 15 Jany. 1842; P.C. 15 Jany. 1842; chief judge in bankruptcy Nov. 1842; exercised jurisdiction of the old Court of Review, after it’s abolition 1847; senior lord justice of appeal in chancery 8 Oct. 1851 to Oct. 1866; F.R.S. 18 March 1829, D.C.L. Ox. 1834. d. The Priory, Roehampton, Surrey 7 Nov. 1866. Law mag. and law review v, 244–50 (1858), xxii, 278–93 (1867); London Society xi, 181–8 (1867), portrait; The bench and the bar, part 1, portrait.
BRUCE, John. b. London 1802; a founder of Camden Society 2 March 1838, director 19 years; edited the first and 12 other volumes for the Society; F.S.A. 1830, treasurer 1849–54; edited Gent. Mag. some years; edited Calendars of state papers, domestic series Charles i 1625–39, 12 vols. 1858–71; contributed many papers to the Archæologia. d. suddenly in Montagu sq. London 28 Oct. 1869, his library was sold at Sotheby’s 27 April to 2 May 1870. Proc. of Soc. of Antiq. 2 series iv, 472–5 (1870).
BRUCE, Sir Michael, 7 Baronet. b. 31 March 1796; succeeded 1827. d. Scotstown, Aberdeen 14 Dec. 1862.
BRUCE, Michael. b. 16 May 1823; ensign Grenadier guards 15 Dec. 1840, lieut. col. 16 May 1865 to 22 Sep. 1875; L.G. 31 Oct. 1880; placed on retired list with hon. rank of general 1 July 1881. d. Glenelg, Bournemouth 29 Sep. 1883.
BRUCE, Robert (3 son of Thomas Bruce, 7 Earl of Elgin 1766–1841). b. 15 March 1813; ensign Grenadier guards 18 June 1830, major 16 Sep. 1856 to 7 Dec. 1858 when placed on h.p.; military secretary to his brother Lord Elgin in Jamaica 1841–47, in Canada 1847–54; surveyor general of the ordnance 1855; governor to Prince of Wales 9 Nov. 1858 to death; M.G. 7 Dec. 1859. d. St. James’s palace, London 27 June 1862. I.L.N. xli, 58, 61 (1862), portrait.
BRUCE, Robert (eld. son of Alexander Bruce of Kennet, co. Clackmannan). b. 8 Dec. 1795; ed. at Eton; ensign 1 Foot guards 9 Dec. 1813, lieut. 1820–24 when he sold out; served in the Peninsula and at Waterloo; M.P. for Clackmannan 27 March 1820 to July 1824; vice lieut. and convener of Clackmannan 1853; chairman of Scottish Central railway board; claimed Scottish peerage of Balfour of Burley which was allowed to his son by committee for privileges in House of Lords 23 July 1868. d. Kennet house near Alloa 13 Aug. 1864. M. F. Conolly’s Biog. dict. of eminent men of Fife (1866) 88–90.
BRUCE, Rev. William (2 son of Rev. Wm. Bruce of Belfast, Presbyterian minister 1757–1841). b. Belfast 16 Nov. 1790; entered Trin. coll. Dublin 2 July 1804, B.A. 1809; licensed by presbytery of Antrim 25 July 1811; presbyterian minister at Belfast 19 Jany. 1812 to 21 April 1867; professor of Classics and Hebrew in Belfast Academical Instit. 27 Oct. 1821 to 1825 and of classics only 1825 to Nov. 1849; moderator of northern presbytery of Antrim 4 April 1862. d. 25 Oct. 1868.
BRUCE, William. Captain 79 foot 14 March 1811; served in Peninsula 1812–4 and at Waterloo; major 75 foot 31 Dec. 1827 to 27 Nov. 1828 when placed on h.p.; K.H. 1837; lieut. col. 23 Nov. 1841. d. Grosvenor hotel, London 28 Nov. 1868.
BRUCE, William Downing (eld. son of Samuel Barwick Bruce of Ripon, surgeon 1786–1853). b. 14 Aug. 1824; barrister L.I. and M.T. 30 April 1853; consul in Scotland for Monte Video 1856; recorder of Wallingford June 1863 to 1869; counsel in Yelverton appeal case; district judge at Spanish Town, Jamaica 1869 to death; author of Chronological tables 1847; An account of the ecclesiastical courts 1852; How the ecclesiastical courts rob the public 1856. d. Jamaica 1875.