744 John Leith

Constituency : Aberdeen  1872-80

John  took  over  at  Aberdeen  following  the  death  of  William  Sykes.  He  triumphed  over  both  a  Tory  and  another  Liberal  James  Barclay. The  Tory  declared  John  had  been  nominated  "by  an  antiquated  and  would-be  despotic  Whig  clique  in  this  Burgh"  and  urged  working-men  to  vote  for  Barclay  in  an  attempt  to  split  the  vote.

John  was  a  barrister  who  had  practised  in  Calcutta.He  was  a  keen  swimmer. He  was  Professor  of  Law  at  Haileybury  from  1853  to  1857. He  stood  against  Sykes  in  1857.

He  died  in  1887  aged  79.