Biography
Robert was born 6 June 1758. He was the eldest son of Robert Dundas of Arniston, the younger and his second wife, Jean, daughter of William Grant, Lord Prestongrange. He was educated at the high school and the University of Edinburgh, and was admitted advocate in 1779.(Hamilton 1888, p. 195)
With the help of his uncle Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville he succeeded Alexander Wight as Solicitor General for Scotland in 1784 and became lord advocate in 1789. From 1790 to 1801 he was M.P. for Edinburghshire. He appeared for the crown in the great prosecutions for sedition at Edinburgh in 1793. He was joint-clerk and keeper of the general registers for seisins and other writs in Scotland from 1799 until on 1 June 1801 he was appointed chief baron of the exchequer in Scotland, but in 1801 and 1811 he turned down offers of the lord presidency. He died 17 June 1819.
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