b. 1819
d. 1885-04-02
Hugh MacCalmont Cairns was solicitor general in the second Conservative administration
of
Lord Derby. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and called to the bar at the Middle Temple
in January 1844, he was made a Queen's Counsel and Bencher of Lincoln's Inn in 1856.
He first represented Belfast in Parliament in June 1852 and retained his seat until
1865. He served as solicitor general in 1858-59, attorney-general in 1866, lord justice
of appeal from October 1866 to February 1868, and lord chancellor in 1868 and 1874-80.
In 1867 he was created Baron Cairns of Garmoyle and Viscount Garmoyle and Earl Cairns
in 1878. He died at Bournemouth on 2 April 1885.
BCDES 36.1, Michael Stenton, Who's Who of British Members of Parliament Vol.1, 1832-1885 (Sussex, England: Harvester Press, 1976-1981) p. 62.