John Alexander Spens

Background

John Alexander Spens was born on 7 June 1933, the son of Thomas Patrick Spens, OBE, MC, and Nancy Farie Anderson. He belonged to the Spens family, a Scottish landed family associated with the estate of Lathallan in Fife. Members of the family appear in Scottish records from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and John Spens of Lathallan was granted a seat in the parliament that King James I called at Perth in 1434.

His descent from this long-established Scottish family placed him within a tradition of landholding, legal practice and public service in Scotland. The Scottish legal profession, with its own institutions and a legal system distinct from England's, formed the setting in which he later trained and practised.

Education

Spens was educated at Rugby School, the English public school founded in 1567 in Rugby, Warwickshire, through an endowment by Lawrence Sheriff. He then studied at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, founded in 1352 by the Guilds of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary, where he took the degree of Bachelor of Arts.

He later studied law at the University of Glasgow, founded in 1451 and one of Scotland's ancient universities, where he obtained the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Scots law, which differs from the law of England, was the legal system in which he qualified for practice in Scotland.

Career

Spens was admitted to the bar in Scotland in 1959. Scottish legal practice included solicitors and Writers to the Signet, a society of solicitors whose members prepare formal documents under the royal signet.

He became a partner of Maclay Murray & Spens in 1960 and remained a partner until 1991. The Glasgow firm had been founded in 1871 as the first law firm in Scotland with a specifically commercial practice. After 1991 he worked as a consultant with the firm, which by then had offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

From 1963 to 1997 he was a director of the Scottish Amicable Life Assurance Society, a Glasgow mutual life assurance society founded in 1826, and he served as its chairman from 1978 to 1981. He was also a director of Standard Property Investment Ltd, a property investment company.

Spens was commissioned as an officer in the Royal Naval Reserve, the reserve component of the Royal Navy, and attained the rank of lieutenant commander. He received the Decoration for Officers of the Royal Naval Reserve in 1970.

In 1974 he became Carrick Pursuivant of the Court of the Lord Lyon, the heraldic authority for Scotland, and held that office until 1985. He was then Albany Herald from 1985 until 2011. The Albany Herald office was first mentioned in a diplomatic mission from Scotland to England in 1401.

He became a Writer to the Signet in 1977 and also held the office of Notary Public.

Membership

Spens was a member of the Royal Company of Archers from 1965. The company, known as the Queen's Body Guard for Scotland, is a ceremonial society with origins in the seventeenth century.

He was also a member of the Society of Writers to Her Majesty's Signet from 1977, a legal society of Scottish solicitors whose members prepare formal documents under the royal signet.

Spens was additionally a member of the Royal Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow, a long-established body of Glasgow solicitors whose name reflects the Scottish term procurator, for a lawyer who conducted cases on behalf of clients.

• Royal Company of Archers , Scotland

  1965

• Society of Writers to Her Majesty's Signet , Scotland

  1977

• Royal Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow , Scotland

Connections

Spens married Finella Jane Gilroy, daughter of Donald Duff Gilroy, on 14 October 1961. The couple had two sons and a daughter, among them David Michael Spens, born on 24 July 1962.

Father:

Thomas Patrick Spens

Held the honours OBE and MC.

Mother:

Nancy Farie Anderson

Wife:

Finella Jane Gilroy

Daughter of Donald Duff Gilroy; married on 14 October 1961.

Son:

David Michael Spens

Born on 24 July 1962.

References

• Wikipedia: John Spens Reference article summarizing Spens's education, legal career, heraldic offices, and honours.
• The Peerage Genealogical entry recording Spens's birth date, parents, marriage, children, Royal Naval Reserve service, Writer to the Signet membership, and honours.
• Peerage News: John Alexander Spens, MVO 1933-2021 Death notice describing Spens's birth, his partnership and consultancy with Maclay, Murray & Spens, his directorship of the Scottish Amicable Life Assurance Society, and his heraldic offices.
  2021
• Court of the Lord Lyon: John Alexander Spens RIP Announcement of Spens's death by the Court of the Lord Lyon, recording his honours and his service as Carrick Pursuivant and Albany Herald.
  2021