ROSS, DAVID, son of Alexander Ross, Gray’s Inn, London, previously Writer to the Signet, Edinburgh; b. 1 May 1728; adm. Jun 1739 (Hawkins'); Min. Can. 1743; left 1743; went on the stage; actor at the Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin 1749-51, Drury Lane 1754-6, Covent Garden 1757-67; patentee and manager of the theatre at Edinburgh, which he opened 9 Dec 1767 with the play The Earl of Essex, the first play legally performed in Scotland; reappeared at Covent Garden 10 Oct 1770; made his last appearance in the season 1777-8; his best parts as an actor were Castalio, Essex, Young Knowell, and George Barnwell; a close friend of James Boswell, who was chief mourner at his funeral (Letters of Boswell to Temple, 273); said to have married the celebrated Fanny Murray (John Taylor, Records of My Life, 1832, i, 362-6); d. 15 Sep 1790. DNB.