The inscription on Dugald Mackichan's grave, Dean Cemetery

Dugald Mackichan FRSE (1851–1932) was a Scottish minister and missionary in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He was also a physicist. He was Vice Chancellor of the

University of Bombay The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...

1888 to 1891 and Mackichan Hall there is named in his honour. He served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the

United Free Church of Scotland The United Free Church of Scotland (UF Church; gd, An Eaglais Shaor Aonaichte, sco, The Unitit Free Kirk o Scotland) is a Scottish Presbyterian denomination formed in 1900 by the union of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland (or UP) and ...

in 1917.

Life

The grave of Rev Dugald Mackichan, Dean Cemetery

He was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

in 1851 the son of Alexander Mackichan, a tobacco and snuff merchant, living at 277 Argyle Street. He attended Glasgow High School. In initially studying science, he graduated MA in 1869 from

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

. He then studied divinity and graduated BD in 1874. In 1874 he went to India and joined the

to lecture in physics and religious studies. He was principal of Wilson College 1884–1920. He served as Vice Chancellor of the university for three years during his tenure. In 1898 he attended the

total solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six month ...

of January 22 as part of K D Naegamvala’s observing expedition. He received two honorary doctorates: DD in 1884 and LLD in 1901. He returned to Scotland and became a minister of the

, being elected its Moderator in 1917 and being succeeded in 1918 by Rev

Robert James Drummond Robert James Drummond (1858–1951) was a Scottish minister who served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the United Free Church of Scotland in 1918. He served as Chaplain to the King (George V) in Scotland. Life He was born on 1 June 18 ...

of the Lothian Road UF Church. In 1926 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Sir

James Alfred Ewing Sir James Alfred Ewing MInstitCE (27 March 1855 − 7 January 1935) was a Scottish physicist and engineer, best known for his work on the magnetic properties of metals and, in particular, for his discovery of, and coinage of the word, '' h ...

, Sir

Edmund Taylor Whittaker Sir Edmund Taylor Whittaker (24 October 1873 – 24 March 1956) was a British mathematician, physicist, and historian of science. Whittaker was a leading mathematical scholar of the early 20th-century who contributed widely to applied mathema ...

, Sir

D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson Sir D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson CB FRS FRSE (2 May 1860 – 21 June 1948) was a Scottish biologist, mathematician and classics scholar. He was a pioneer of mathematical and theoretical biology Mathematical and theoretical biology, or biomat ...

and

Charles Glover Barkla Charles Glover Barkla FRS FRSE (7 June 1877 – 23 October 1944) was a British physicist, and the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1917 for his work in X-ray spectroscopy and related areas in the study of X-rays (Roentgen rays). Life ...

. He died on 7 April 1932. He is buried with his wife in Dean Cemetery in western Edinburgh. The grave lies under the trees in the south-west inner section.

Publications

*''The Missionary Ideal in the Scottish Churches'' (1927) *''Forty-five Years in India'' (1934)

Family

In 1877 he was married to the missionary, Eliza MacRitchie (died 1920) daughter of Rev Malcolm Ritchie.Ewing, William ''Annals of the Free Church'' His daughter married a Rev Dr Williamson, an American missionary in India.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackinchan, Dugald 1851 births 1932 deaths Alumni of the University of Glasgow Scottish Presbyterian missionaries Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Presbyterian missionaries in India Ministers of the United Free Church of Scotland