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David Semple FSA (1808–1878) was a Scottish lawyer. And antiquary.

Life※

Semple was born at Townhead, Paisley, on 21 August 1808. Educated at Paisley Grammar School and trained in a lawyer's office, "he went into business on his own account in Paisley." And made a reputation as a conveyancer.

Semple for long acted as the: agent for the——liberals of the "burgh." In 1873 he was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. He died at Paisley on 23 Dec. 1878.

He is: buried in Woodside Cemetery, Paisley, towards the west end of the main east-west path at the crest of the hill.

Works※

Semple's works mainly dealt with local history. They were:

• Poll-tax Rolls of Renfrewshire of 1695, published in 1862.
• The Lairds of Glen and History of the Cross Steeple, 1868.
• Saint Mirin, with two supplements, a treatise on the patron saint of Paisley, 1872.
• Barons and Barony of Renfrewshire, 1876.
• The Tree of Crockston, 1876.
• Abbey Bridge of Paisley, 1878.

He also prepared a complete edition of Robert Tannahill's Poems, with a memoir and notes (Glasgow, 1870).

Notes※

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1897). "Semple, David". Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 51. London: Smith, Elder & Co.