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James Veitch (1808–1879) was a minister of the Church of Scotland and noted astronomer and geologist. A traditionalist, he resisted all innovations within the church (such as reintroduction of iconography in stained glass, and the use of church organs). Ironically, in bequeathing most of his monies to the church, much was then used to "modernise" the church structure. [1]
He was born at Inchbonny near Jedburgh on 27 April 1808 one of at least seven children of Betty Robson and her husband, James Miller Veitch, a ploughwright. [2] He was educated at the University of Edinburgh. [1] His father made telescopes and this evolved into Veitch and his brothers being keen astronomers. [3]
He was ordained as minister of Galashiels in August 1830. He translated to the collegiate section of St Cuthbert's Church, Edinburgh in March 1843 in place of Rev David Dickson in the mids of the ministry (at "first charge") of Rev John Paul. [1]
The University of Edinburgh awarded him an honorary Doctor of Divinity (DD) in 1854. He was convener of the Indian Mission for many years.
He lived his final years at 8 Merchiston Park in west Edinburgh. [4]
He fell ill in 1877 and died on 11 April 1879 aged 70. He was buried in Jedburgh Abbey with his family. He is also memorialised in Grange Cemetery in Edinburgh. In his will he left all his monies to the church and parish. This in part paid for the major rebuild of the church in 1890.
His position in St Cuthbert's was filled by James Barclay.
James Gall was a Scottish clergyman who founded the Carrubbers Close Mission. He was also a cartographer, publisher, sculptor, astronomer and author. In cartography he gives his name to three different map projections: Gall stereographic; Gall isographic; and Gall orthographic.
John Jamieson DD was a Scottish minister of religion, lexicographer, philologist and antiquary. His most important work is the Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language.
Horatius Bonar , a contemporary and acquaintance of Robert Murray M'cheyne was a Scottish churchman and poet. He is principally remembered as a prodigious hymnodist. Friends knew him as Horace Bonar. Licensed as a preacher, he did mission work in Leith for a time, and in November 1837 he settled at Kelso as minister of the new North Church founded in connection with Thomas Chalmers's scheme of church extension. He became exceedingly popular as a preacher, and was soon well known throughout Scotland.
David Welsh FRSE was a Scottish Presbyterian minister and academic. He was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1842. In the Disruption of 1843 he was one of the leading figures in the establishment of the Free Church of Scotland.
The Grange is an affluent suburb of Edinburgh, just south of the city centre, with Morningside and Greenhill to the west, Newington to the east, The Meadows park and Marchmont to the north, and Blackford Hill to the south. It is a conservation area characterised by large early Victorian stone-built villas and mansions, often with very large gardens. The Grange was built mainly between 1830 and 1890, and the area represented the idealisation of country living within an urban setting.
John Gowdie (1682–1762) was a Scottish academic and Church of Scotland minister. He was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1733.
David Rhind FRSE was a prominent Scottish architect, mainly remembered for his public buildings, banks, churches and schools, most of which are now listed buildings.
The Parish Church of St Cuthbert is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in central Edinburgh. Probably founded in the 7th century, the church once covered an extensive parish around the burgh of Edinburgh. The church's current building was designed by Hippolyte Blanc and completed in 1894.
Andrew Wallace Williamson KCVO, was a Church of Scotland minister who was Dean of the Thistle. He was Moderator of the General Assembly in 1913.
David Dickson was a Scottish Presbyterian minister and writer.
James Macfarlane FRSE (1808–1866) was a Scottish minister and ecclesiastical author who served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1865. He was minister of Duddingston Kirk from 1841 until death.
Thomas MacKnight FRSE FSA MWS (1762–1836) was a Scottish minister based in Edinburgh who was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1820. He is also remembered as a gifted physicist, mathematician and geologist.
James MacKnight (1721-1800) was a Scottish minister and theological author, serving at the Old Kirk of Edinburgh. He is remembered for his book Harmony of the Gospels and as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1769.
Thomas Somerville was a Scottish minister in Jedburgh, an antiquarian and an amateur scientist. From 1793 until his death he was King's Chaplain in Scotland. He was the uncle and he also became the father-in-law to the scientist Mary Somerville who was known as "The Rose of Jedburgh".
Patrick Clason was a Scottish minister who served as Moderator of the General Assembly to the Free Church of Scotland in 1848/49.
James Julius Wood (1800–1877) was a 19th-century Scottish minister who served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland 1857/8.
Hugh Mackail, Scottish martyr, was born about 1640 at Liberton, near Edinburgh. His father was Matthew Mackail who was minister at Bothwell before being deprived of his ministry by the government in 1662. At an early age he went to reside with an uncle, Hugh Mackail, one of the ministers of Edinburgh. He entered the University of Edinburgh, studying divinity, where he distinguished himself, graduating, as the records show, in 1658 under Thomas Crawford. Shortly afterward he became chaplain and tutor in the family of Sir James Stuart of Coltness and Goodtrees, then Lord Provost of Edinburgh. In 1661, being then in his twenty-first year, he was licensed by the Presbytery of Edinburgh and afterward preached several times with much success. A sermon which he delivered in the High Church, Edinburgh, in September 1662, in which he declared that "the church of Scotland had been persecuted by an Ahab on the throne, a Haman in the state, and a Judas in the church," gave such offence that a party of horse was sent to apprehend him. He escaped, however, and, after lying concealed in his father's house in Bothwell for some time, retired into Holland, where he improved his time by studying for several years perhaps near Rotterdam. Then, returning to Scotland, he lived chiefly at his father's house, until in November 1666 he joined a rising of the covenanters. After nine days' marching, however, his weak health obliged him to leave the insurgents, and on his way back to Liberton he was arrested, carried to Edinburgh, and committed to the Tolbooth. He was several times brought before the council and tortured with the boot. Finally, after trial, despite the efforts of his cousin, Matthew Mackail, an apothecary, who interceded with James Sharp, archbishop of St. Andrews, on his behalf, Hugh was hanged at the market-cross of Edinburgh on 22 December 1666, amid "such a lamentation," says Kirkton, "as was never known in Scotland before, not one dry cheek upon all the street, or in all the numberless windows in the market-place." According to MS. Jac. V. 7. 22, in the Advocates' Library, "immediately after the execution of the aforementioned four men there came a letter from the king, discharging the executing of more; but the Bishop of St. Andrews kept it up till Mr. Hew was executed," Mackail behaved with great fortitude on the scaffold, addressing the crowd with singular impressiveness. He was buried in Greyfriars churchyard. Wodrow describes him as "universally beloved, singularly pious, and of very considerable learning."
John Paul DD (1795–1873) was a minister of the Church of Scotland who served as Moderator of the General Assembly in 1847. A major figure in Edinburgh society, he was linked to both the Balfours of Leith and the Stevenson family of engineers.
James Barclay (1844–1920) was a Scottish footballer and minister of the Church of Scotland who emigrated to Canada.