He served as Solicitor General for Scotland, as a Senator of Justice (with the title Lord Glencairnie), as an Extraordinary Lord of Session and as Secretary of State for Scotland.
The Lord of the Rings | Lord Byron | Lord Chancellor | Lord | Lord Mayor of London | session musician | Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales | Alfred, Lord Tennyson | Lord Kitchener | Lord Chamberlain | Lord President of the Council | Lord Lieutenant of Ireland | Lord Chancellor of Ireland | Lord & Taylor | Lord Mayor | Lord Deputy of Ireland | Session Initiation Protocol | Lord of the Manor | Lord's Resistance Army | Lord's Prayer | Lord Peter Wimsey | Lord's Cricket Ground | Lord Nelson | Lord's | Lord Privy Seal | Lord Mayor of Dublin | Lord Howe Island | Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron | Lord Justice of Appeal | Lord Alfred Douglas |
He was admitted Lord Justice General on 1 June 1675, appointed a Lord of the Treasury on 27 September 1678, nominated an Extraordinary Lord of Session on 17 July 1680, and on 2 November of the same year appointed Secretary of State in succession to the Duke of Lauderdale.
Educated with James VI under George Buchanan, he was Knight of Cardonald, Prior of Blantyre, Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland from 1582 to 1596, an Extraordinary Lord of Session from 1593, an Octavian from 1596, Lord High Treasurer of Scotland from 1596 to 1599.