Margaret Ann Kinniburgh Macgregor (née Burns; 11 November 1838 – 20 January 1901) was an urban Christian missionary whose work was in service to the people of Govan, Glasgow.

Life

Margaret was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

on 11 November 1838, and died on 20 January 1901 in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. She was the daughter of Jeanie Marshall and James Burns and later married Thomas Macgregor. Margaret attended Moray House School in Edinburgh and was a congregant of Lothian Road United Presbyterian Church in Edinburgh, but experienced an evangelical conversion during the

evangelical revival in Scotland The evangelical revival in Scotland was a series of religious movements in Scotland from the eighteenth century, with periodic revivals into the twentieth century. It began in the later 1730s as congregations experienced intense "awakenings" of ent ...

(1859–1861), after which she joined St Mary's Free Church in

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric: ''Gwovan''; Scots language, Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of southwest Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the sout ...

Religious work

Margaret was involved with St Mary's Free Church's Sabbath school and did extensive community outreach work including visiting the sick, hosting meetings for local mothers in her home, and running evangelical and Bible meetings. When her range of activities became too big for St Mary's Free Church premises to handle, she moved to a new place in Harmony Row, funded by local philanthropist

Isabella Elder Isabella Ure Elder (15 March 1828 – 18 November 1905) was a Scottish Philanthropy, philanthropist who took a particular interest in education, especially of women, and in the welfare of the people of Govan in Glasgow. In Govan alone, Elder ...

. As Lady Superintendent of the

Fairfield Works Mission Fairfield may refer to: Places Australia * Fairfield, New South Wales, a western suburb of Sydney **Electoral district of Fairfield, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Fairfield City Council, in Sydney * Fairfield ...

, she was responsible for a number of initiatives including helping women gain sewing and domestic work skills, Bible instruction, and a welcoming space for prayer, including childcare for working women and widowers. Known as Govan's 'Bible wumman', Margaret's approach to the Mission was non-denominational and in cooperation with local Protestant groups.

The Macgregor Memorial Church

After her death, philanthropist Lady Dinah Pearce funded the construction of th
Macgregor Memorial Church
(built between 1902 and 1904) in her honour. Designed by James Miller (who also designed buildings for the Glasgow International Exhibition in 1901), the church sat at the corner of Craigton Road and Crosslan Road in

until it was demolished in 1994 to make way for a car park. The congregation was merged with Govan Old Church.

Life

Religious work

The Macgregor Memorial Church

References

Further reading