Obituary: Andrew Elliott, a lawyer and patron of the arts, 86

Andrew Elliott, a lawyer and patron of the arts, has died aged 86

Born at the family home in Broughton Place, Mr Elliott was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied history. During the Second World War he served with distinction as a Guards Tank Commander in the campaign which followed D-Day.

After the war, and following his graduation from Edinburgh University's Law School, Mr Elliott was set to live the establishment life of an Edinburgh solicitor.

His life changed in January 1963, however, not long after the Traverse Theatre had opened its doors in the Lawnmarket.

He started eating his lunch there, to enjoy the culinary skills of Dorrie Martin, and was soon joined by flatmate Jamie Dunbar-Nasmith and neighbour, the lawyer James Shaw who, as Lord Kilbryde, willingly became the Patron of the Traverse.

Mr Elliott later became the first chairman of the Traverse founding committee, and soon realised he had joined a group of friends who had shared beliefs, values, hopes and aspirations to see a meeting place in Edinburgh come into being, with the explicit purpose of ensuring that the spirit of the Edinburgh Festival would flourish beyond the limitations of its three-week programme.

It was to this small circle of friends that Mr Elliott committed himself with his legal mind and expertise.

When the Traverse Gallery's successful exhibition programme demanded larger space, it was Mr Elliott's enthusiasm and professionalism that enabled him, along with John Martin and Jimmy Walker, to purchase a four-storey New Town house on Melville Crescent to allow the spirit of the Traverse, with its commitment to both performing and visual arts, to be transmitted to Edinburgh's West End.

The elegant Georgian townhouse was a few minutes' walk from the solicitors' office of Gillespie Paterson, under whose roof Mr Elliott performed his duties as a "Writer to the Signet" at the same time. He became the first chairman of the Richard Demarco Gallery's board of directors in its prestigious premises, which he himself had approved of because of its proximity to his place of work and which would help him to execute his many roles as chairman, legal adviser and art patron with an eagle eye as an art lover for the best contemporary paintings, both Scottish and international.

Edinburgh-born artist and art impresario Richard Demarco said: "Without Andrew Elliott, neither the Traverse nor the Demarco Gallery would ever have come into being."

Mr Elliott died on New Year's Day after suffering a heart attack whilst tending to his beloved plants in the garden he had known since childhood adjoining his family home in Broughton Place. He is survived by his two sisters and the family of his brother, Lord Elliott.