John Hill Burton

John Hill Burton (1809–1881) was a Scottish historian and lawyer. Born in Aberdeen and called to the Edinburgh bar, he found little practice and turned to writing, editing the works of Jeremy Bentham, producing a life of David Hume and serving as secretary to the Prison Board of Scotland. His History of Scotland (1853–70) in eight volumes was the standard account for a generation, and in 1867 he was appointed Historiographer Royal for Scotland. The Book-Hunter (1862), a good-humored study of book collectors and their habits, and The Scot Abroad (1864) showed a lighter side. He died at Morton House near Edinburgh.