Obituary - Corbett, Ian Hutchison - 4/1/07

Ian Hutchison Corbett, who joined the Society in 1964, died peacefully in the Marie Curie Hospice. He was born in the Dean Village in Edinburgh, and throughout his life he remained proud of his origins. He left school at 15, and joined Baillie & Gifford WS in 1955 as an office boy. There, fired by am­bition, he took up an apprenticeship, and having qualified as a solicitor, he became assistant to Wilson Terris, a sole prac­titioner with a practice in civil work in the Court of Session and Sheriff Court. When Terris died, a few months later, Ian ac­quired and developed the practice. He was among the first to take up criminal legal aid work. In 2000, he retired from practice as a solicitor; he had developed interests in the Far East and had been appointed honorary consul of the Philippines in Edinburgh, later promoted to consul general, an unusual distinction for a non-career diplomat. He used his connections to encourage Shapes, an Edinburgh furniture retailer and auc­tion house, to import products from the Far East. He was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Edinburgh in July 2002. He is survived by his wife, Gladys, his daughters, Gillian and Caroline, their husbands and children, Olivia Imogen and Iestyn.