The Right Honourable William Adam,
Lord Chief Commissioner of the Jury Court, A Privy Counsellor,
and Lord Lieutenant of the county of Kinross,
Eldest son of John Adam of Blair-Adam, was born on the 2nd August 1751
Passed Advocate in 1773
Elected to Parliament in 1774
Called to the English Bar in 1782
He took a prominent part in the proceedings of the House of Commons until he vacated his seat in 1795.
Associated with Mr. Fox, and the small number of eminent men who exerted their powerful talents to uphold the principles of the Constitution during the progress of the French Revolution; He was conspicuous in his endeavors, although in van, to prevent the antiquated law of leasing making being illegally used against the liberty of the subject. He lived however to see his views adopted by the amendment of that law. He was made King's Counsel in 1796, and appointed chancellor of the Duchy of Cornwall in 1806; in which year, on the formation of the Grenville administration, he was returned to parliament of the counties of Kincardine and Kinross, and sat for the former until 1811. From an early period he had devoted his attention to the improvement of the administration of justice in Scotland, and when it was resolved in 1815 to establish trial by jury in civil causes, he was placed at the head of the court.

The distinguished talent, the unwearied zeal, and patent attention by which he overcame the difficulties attending so great a change in the jurisprudence of Scotland, together with the admirable temper, the kindness of demeanor, and the urbanity he displayed in the execution of the arduous undertaking, have been publicly recorded by those over whom he presided, the energy of this character was no less exhibited in the district in which his estate is situated...