William Finnie was a Scottish liberal politician and lawyer.

Life

The third son of James Finnie, a merchant in London, Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro, and Mary Ann Brown, he was educated at Merchiston Castle

Merchiston Castle

Merchiston Castle or Merchiston Tower was probably built by Alexander Napier, the second Laird of Merchiston around 1454. It serves as the seat for Clan Napier...

 Academy, King's College, London, and Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...

.

He was called to the bar at the Inner Temple

Inner Temple

The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...

 in 1853, but never practised.

He was a justice of the peace

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

 for Ayrshire.

He was elected as Liberal Member of Parliament for North Ayrshire

North Ayrshire (UK Parliament constituency)

North Ayrshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1868 until 1918. It returned one Member of Parliament , using the first-past-the-post voting system.-Boundaries:...

in 1868, and left Parliament in 1874.