Background
Leslie was born on 8 May 1905, the son of Robert Leslie, Master Mariner, and educated at Earlston School, Berwickshire High School, and the High School of Glasgow.
Leslie was born on 8 May 1905, the son of Robert Leslie, Master Mariner, and educated at Earlston School, Berwickshire High School, and the High School of Glasgow.
He studied at the University of Glasgow, first studying Arts (Master of Arts, 1927) and then at the University"s School of Law (Bachelor of Laws, 1930).
He was admitted as a solicitor in 1930 and to the Faculty of Advocates in 1937. Following the War, Leslie was appointed Standing Counsel to the Department of Agriculture, becoming an Advocate Depute in 1947. He was appointed Queen"s Counsel in 1949, and in 1951 returned to private practice.
In 1956, he was appointed Sheriff of Roxburgh, Berwick and Selkirk, and in 1961 as Sheriff of Caithness, Sutherland, Orkney and Zetland.
In April 1965, he was appointed Chairman of the Scottish Land Court, taking the judicial title, Lord Birsay. He was appointed a Knight of the Thistle, Scotland"s highest order of chivalry, in 1973.
He retired in 1978, and was succeeded by Lord Elliott.
Faculty of Advocates]
He had been a member of the Officers" Training Corps while at school and university, and during the Second World War served in the Royal Scots, being awarded a military Administration Member of the Order of the British Empire and mentioned in despatches.