William Henry Gray (1825-1908) was a Scottish minister who served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1888, the highest position in the Church of Scotland. [1] From 1889 he was styled Very Rev Dr William H. Gray. As an author he wrote several religious books for children.
He was born on 13 February 1825 at Hawkstone near St Madoes in Perthshire the son of Andrew Gray and his wife Jane Kettle. He claimed to be descended from the Grays of Kinfauns Castle. [2] He was educated at Perth Seminary then studied divinity at St Andrews University graduating MA in 1841. He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Perth in June 1843. [3]
He was ordained in November 1846 at St Paul's Church in Perth. In 1849 he then succeeded Rev John Caird at Lady Yester's Kirk in central Edinburgh [4] where he preached for over 30 years. [5] He then served as minister of Liberton, Edinburgh from 1880 to 1898. [6]
Following retiral in November 1897 he moved to 3 Carlton Terrace on Calton Hill in central Edinburgh, an impressive Georgian terraced townhouse. [7] The building faces south over Edinburgh Old Town and Holyrood Palace and is now the Free French House.
He died at home in Edinburgh on 6 December 1908. [3]
In June 1855 he married Mary Smith Mitchell, daughter of Robert Mitchell an Edinburgh magistrate and widow of William Richardson Dickson of Alton in Roxburghshire who had a son and two daughters by her previous marriage. [3]
Robert Flint LLD DD was a Scottish theologian and philosopher who wrote also on sociology.
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 Hall was the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, meeting in Burntisland in 1601. He was nominated as "Constant Moderator" in 1606.
Robert Bruce was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland which was called on 6 February 1588 to prepare defences against a possible invasion by the Spanish Armada. King James VI was so sensible of the valuable services of the church in preserving public tranquillity, during his absence in Norway on the occasion of his marriage, that in his letters to Bruce he declared that he was "worth the quarter of his kingdom." John Livingstone, the preacher at the Kirk of Shotts revival, said of Bruce "in my opinion never man spake with greater power since the apostles' dayes".
Thomas Hardy FRSE was a Scottish Minister, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1793 and Professor of Eccesiastical History at Edinburgh University. He was also Dean of the Chapel Royal and Chaplain in Ordinary to the King.
Andrew Mitchell Thomson (1779–1831) was a minister of the Church of Scotland, known as an evangelical activist and political reformer.
George Alexander Frank Knight FRSE (1869–1937) was a Scottish minister, author and advocate of the Temperance Movement. In literature he is usually referred to as G. A. Frank Knight.
William Muir FRSE (1787–1869) was a Scottish minister of the Church of Scotland. He served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1838.
Theodore Marshall (1846–1909) was a Scottish minister who served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1908.
Mackintosh MacKay was a Scottish minister and author who served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland in 1849. He edited the Highland Society's prodigious Gaelic dictionary in 1828.
William Aird Thomson was a Scottish minister and antiquarian who served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1835.
Dugald MacFarlane (1869–1956) was a Scottish minister who served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1937.
Donald Mackinnon Macalister (1832–1909) was a minister of the Free Church of Scotland who served as Moderator of the General Assembly in 1902/03.
Robert Elder (1808–1892) was a Scottish minister of the Free Church of Scotland who served as Moderator of the General Assembly to the Free Church 1871/72.
James Sievewright (1783–1852) was a Scottish minister of the Free Church of Scotland and who served as Moderator of the General Assembly 1847/48.
Walter Ross Taylor (1805–1896) was a Scottish minister of the Free Church of Scotland who served as Moderator of the General Assembly 1884/85.
Archibald Scott (1837–1909) was a Scottish minister who served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1896.
William Mitchell (1670–1727) was a 17th/18th century Scottish minister who served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland five times. He was Chaplain in Ordinary to the King.
Andrew Grant (1757–1836) was a senior Scottish minister in the 19th century who became Chaplain in Ordinary to King George III, George IV and William IV in Scotland and Dean of the Chapel Royal. He was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1808.