Samuel Trail (1806–1887) was a Scottish minister who served as

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week in Edinburgh every year. After chairing the Asse ...

in 1874.

Life

The grave of Rev Samuel Trail, St Machar's Cathedral

He was born in the parish of Udny on 31 May 1806, the son of John T. Trail, a farmer. He studied divinity at Kings College,

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

, graduating MA in 1825. He then spent some years as the private tutor to the children of the

Viscount of Arbuthnott Viscount of Arbuthnott is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1641, along with the subsidiary title Lord Inverbervie, for Sir Robert Arbuthnott. The Viscount of Arbuthnott is the hereditary chief of Clan Arbuthnott. At the ti ...

. In 1841 he was appointed minister of

Arbuthnott Arbuthnott ( gd, Obar Bhuadhnait, "mouth of the Buadhnat") is a village and parish in the Howe of the Mearns, a low-lying agricultural district of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is located on the B967, east of Fordoun (on the A90) and north-west ...

Church and stayed in this role until 1844, when he was translated to Birsay church in

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) nort ...

. He lived there until 1868. In 1847 he was granted an honorary doctorate by King's College (LLD) and in 1852 was additionally created a Doctor of Divinity (DD). In 1868 he was appointed Professor of Systematic Theology at the newly amalgamated

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

. He also served as