Alexander Neil Somerville (1813–1889) was a Scottish minister and evangelist, who served as

Moderator of the General Assembly The moderator of the General Assembly is the Chair (official), chairperson of a General Assembly (presbyterian church), General Assembly, the highest court of a Presbyterian or Calvinism, Reformed church. Kirk sessions and presbytery (church pol ...

for the

Free Church of Scotland In contemporary usage, the Free Church of Scotland usually refers to: * Free Church of Scotland (since 1900), that portion of the original Free Church which remained outside the 1900 merger; extant It may also refer to: * Free Church of Scotland (1 ...

at Inverness in 1886/87. Glasgow University called him "Missionary to the World".

Life

He 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 29 January 1813, the eldest of eight children of Alexander Somerville, a wine-merchant living at 65 York Place, and his wife, Elizabeth Munro. He was educated at the High School on Calton Hill, his friends including Robert McCheyne and

Horatius Bonar Horatius Bonar (; 19 December 180831 July 1889) was a Scottish churchman and poet who was a contemporary and acquaintance of Robert Murray M'cheyne. He is principally remembered as a prodigious hymnodist. Friends knew him as Horace Bo ...

. He then studied Divinity at

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and offi ...

. He was ordained by the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

Anderston Anderston (, ) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland. It is on the north bank of the River Clyde and forms the south western edge of the city centre. Established as a village of handloom weavers in the early 18th century, Anderston was an independent ...

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 ...

in 1837, replacing Rev Charles John Brown. In the

Disruption of 1843 The Disruption of 1843, also known as the Great Disruption, was a schism in 1843 in which 450 evangelical ministers broke away from the Church of Scotland to form the Free Church of Scotland. The main conflict was over whether the Church of Sc ...

he left the established

to join the Free Church of Scotland, a new church being built for him in Cadogan Street. Following this he became an evangelist for the Free Church in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and especially in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. In Spain he organised a confession of faith for Spanish Protestants. In 1873 he had a legitimate claim to the title of Baron Somerville but did not press his claim. In 1874 he was invited to India By Rev John Fordyce of the Anglo-Indian Union. He visited over 20 cities in six months including

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

and

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

. An avid traveller his later trips included Australia and New Zealand in 1877/78. The visit to

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and

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in New Zealand in May 1878 proved particularly influential in promoting the Free Presbyterian movement in that country. This was partially at the invitation of a family friend, Captain William Cargill. Later trips included Italy in 1880, Germany and Russia in 1881, South Africa 1882/3, Greece and Turkey 1885/6. In the summer of 1886 he was elected

the highest position in his church. He was succeeded by Rev

Robert Rainy Robert Rainy (1 January 1826 – 22 December 1906), was a Scottish Presbyterian divine. Rainy Hall in New College, Edinburgh (the Divinity faculty at Edinburgh University) is named after him. Life He was born on New Year's Day 1826 at 28 Mon ...

in 1887. Following his year in office he returned to evangelism, this time concentrating on Jewish areas in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and southern Russia. In Budapest,

Ármin Vámbéry Ármin Vámbéry (born Hermann Wamberger; 19 March 183215 September 1913), also known as Arminius Vámbéry, was a Hungarian Turkologist and traveller. Early life Vámbéry was born in 1832 in the Hungarian city of Szentgyörgy within the ...

will also appear at one of the performances organized especially for Jews. Vámbéry also helped the pastor in his work as an interpreter. He translated his words into German at the occasion organized specifically for Jews. In

Szolnok Szolnok (; also known by #Name and etymology, alternative names) is the county seat of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county in central Hungary. A city with county rights, it is located on the banks of the Tisza river, in the heart of the Great Hungarian ...

, he visited Izsák Lichtenstein, the rabbi of Tapioszele who had already resigned. He died at home, 11 South Park Terrace in

on 18 September 1889. He is buried in the

Western Necropolis Western Necropolis is a cemetery complex in Glasgow, Scotland located to the north of the city centre. As well as the actual Western Necropolis cemetery established in 1882, it is bordered by Lambhill Cemetery which opened in 1881, St Kentigern's ...

, Glasgow.

Publications

*''A Course of Lectures on the Jews'' (1839) *''Sacred Triads, Doctrinal and Practical'' (1859) *''A Day in Laodicea'' (1861) *''The Churches in Asia'' (1885) *''Evangelism of the World'' (1886) *''Precious Seeds Sown in Many Lands'' (1890-posthumously) Euphemia (born Gibb) politician and social worker ) *James Ewing, M.A., B.D., minister of Free Church, Langholm, Broughty-Ferry, and U.F. Church, Mentone, editor of the Continental Presbyterian. born 1843 *Marianne, born 8 July 1845 (married 14 November 1865, George Halley Knight, of Dollar, Clackmannanshire.Ewing, William ''Annals of the Free Church''; Rev G H Knight minister of Free Church, Bearsden), died 12 May 1902 *Eliza, born 14 July 1848 (married Jonathan Kerr, lieut.-col. Bengal Staff Corps) *William Francis, M.A., B.Sc, M.B., CM., M.D., physician in Glasgow, lieut.-col. commanding 2/1 Lowland Field Ambulance, R.A.M.C. (T.), born 14 June 1858.

References

;Citations ;Sources * * * * * * * * * *

External links