Andrew Beveridge Doig (18 September 1914 – 21 December 1997) was a Scottish minister and African missionary of 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 ...

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 ...

in 1981/2.

Life

He was born in

Carluke Carluke (; ) is a town that lies in the heart of the Lanarkshire countryside in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, northwest of Lanark and southeast of Wishaw. Carluke is largely a commuter town, with a variety of small stores and supermarkets a ...

on 18 September 1914 the son of George Doig, a railway clerk, originally from

Kirriemuir Kirriemuir ( , ; ), sometimes called Kirrie or the ''Wee Red Toon'', is a burgh in Angus, Scotland, United Kingdom. The playwright J. M. Barrie was born and buried here and a statue of Peter Pan is in the town square. History Some of th ...

, and his wife Hannah Andrew Beveridge. He was educated at

Hyndland Secondary School Hyndland Secondary School is a non-denominational state comprehensive school in the Hyndland area of Glasgow, Scotland. The school provides secondary education for children from the local area, although there are many children from other areas ...

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 ...

and attended the Broomhill Church there. He then studied Arts and Divinity at

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

graduating BD around 1936. He then did postgraduate study at the

Union Theological Seminary Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (shortened to UTS or Union) is a Private college, private ecumenical liberal Christian seminary in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, affiliated with Columbia University since 1928. Presently, Co ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in the USA. Under the influence of his mother and the evangelist, D. P. Thomson, he was ordained as a Church of Scotland missionary in 1938, and sought to spread Christianity in Africa.The Herald Scotland: obituary 23 December 1997 In April 1939 he went to Blantyre, Nyasaland to do missionary work for various churches. At the advent of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he became Army Chaplain to the

King's African Rifles The King's African Rifles (KAR) was a British Colonial Auxiliary Forces regiment raised from Britain's East African colonies in 1902. It primarily carried out internal security duties within these colonies along with military service elsewher ...

and served in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

and

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. In 1946 he became part of Nyasaland's Legislative Council. In 1951 he met

Hastings Banda Hastings Kamuzu Banda ( – 25 November 1997) was a Malawian politician and statesman who served as the leader of Malawi from 1964 to 1994. He served as Prime Minister of Malawi, Prime Minister from independence in 1964 to 1966, when Malawi was ...

Nyasaland Nyasaland () was a British protectorate in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. After ...

. Although originally seeing Banda as a good influence he ultimately ended in opposition to him when he was famously a Church of Scotland envoy asking for clemency at the trial of

Orton Chirwa Orton Chirwa (30 January 1919 – 20 October 1992) was a lawyer and political leader in colonial Nyasaland and after independence became Malawi's Ministry of Justice (Malawi), Minister of Justice and Attorney General. After a dispute with Malaw ...

. This resulted in the death sentence being changed to life imprisonment. In 1953 he was briefly a Member of Parliament for the short-lived

Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation (CAF), was a colonial federation that consisted of three southern African territories: the Self-governing colony, self-governing British colony of Southern ...

. From 1962 to 1972 he was minister of Kings Park Church in

Dalkeith Dalkeith ( ; , ) is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, on the River Esk. It was granted a burgh of barony in 1401 and a burgh of regality in 1541. The settlement of Dalkeith grew southwestwards from its 12th-century castle (now Dalkeith Pala ...

. From 1972 to 1981 he was General Secretary of the National Bible Society of Scotland. He was an Executive Committee Member (representing Europe) for the

United Bible Societies The United Bible Societies (UBS) is a global fellowship of around 150 Bible societies operating in more than 240 countries and territories. It has working hubs in England, Singapore and Nairobi. The headquarters are located in Swindon, England. ...

. His role as Moderator came in 1981 immediately after his retirement from the National Bible Society. His most unusual duty during his term of office was to represent the Church of Scotland at the marriage of Prince Charles and Lady Diana. He was succeeded in 1982 by Very Rev John McIntyre. He died in his cottage at Moulin near

Pitlochry Pitlochry (; or ) is a town in the Perth and Kinross council area of Scotland, lying on the River Tummel. It is historically in the county of Perthshire, and has a population of 2,776, according to the 2011 census.Scotland's 2011 census. (n.p. ...

on 21 December 1997.

Publications

*''The Missionary Motive and the Missionary Approach'' (1939) *''Its People That Count'' (1997)

Family

In 1940 he married fellow-missionary Annie Nicol ("Nan") Carruthers, who died in Nyasaland in 1947. They had one daughter. In 1950 he married Barbara Young, headmistress of a girls school in

Blantyre, Malawi Blantyre is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with a population of 800,264 . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, Lilongwe. It is ...

(originally from

Leven, Fife Leven (Pictish language, Pictish; ) is a seaside town in Fife, set in the east Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the coast of the Firth of Forth at the mouth of the River Leven, Fife, River Leven, north-east of the town of Kirkcaldy and ...

) in Leven. They had one son and one daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doig, Andrew Beveridge 1914 births 1997 deaths People from Carluke People educated at Hyndland Secondary School Alumni of the University of Glasgow Union Theological Seminary alumni 20th-century ministers of the Church of Scotland 20th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers Scottish Presbyterian missionaries Nyasaland Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Members of the Rhodesia and Nyasaland Federal Assembly Presbyterian missionaries in Malawi