BURTON, JOHN HILL (1809-1881), Scottish historian, was born at Aberdeen on Aug. 22, 1809. He qualified for the Scottish bar and practised as an advocate. His Manual of the Law of Scotland (1839) brought him into notice; he joined Sir John Bowring in editing the works of Jeremy Bentham, and for a short time was editor of the Scotsman, which he committed to the cause of free trade. In 1846 he achieved high reputation by his Life of David Hume, based upon extensive and unused ins. material. In 1847 he wrote his biographies of Simon, Lord Lovat, and of Duncan Forbes, and in 1849 prepared for Cham bers's Series manuals of political and social economy and of emigration. He contributed largely to the Scotsman and Black wood, writing Narratives from Criminal Trials in Scotland (1852), Treatise on the Law of Bankruptcy in Scotland (18J3), and publishing in the latter year the first volume of his History of Scotland, which was completed in 187o. A new and improved edition of the work appeared in 1873. He had in 1 854 been appointed secretary to the prison board, an office which gave him entire pecuniary independence. Two volumes of the National Scottish Registers were published under his supervision. His last work, The History of the Reign of Queen Anne (188o), is very inferior to his History of Scotland. He died on Aug. ro, 1881.
A memoir of Hill Burton by his wife was prefaced to an edition of The Book Hunter which was published in Edinburgh (1882).