Andrew Thomson

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(1814–1901) was a Scottish minister and (from 1847) of the United Presbyterian Church. He was a noted biographer and lecturer, well known for his books on the lives of pre-eminent ministers, and for his book on his travels in the

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

and noted for his preface to the Scottish poet, Robert Pollok's "Tales of the Covenanters". Thomson should not be confused with Rev

Andrew Mitchell Thomson Andrew Mitchell Thomson (1779–1831) was a minister of the Church of Scotland, known as an evangelical activist and political reformer. Life The second son of the Rev. John Thomson, D.D., by his first wife, Helen Forrest, he was born in the ma ...

(1779-1831), minister of St George's,

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 ...

, an evangelical leader considered a precursor of 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 ...

Life

He was born in

Sanquhar Sanquhar (, ) is a town on the River Nith in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, north of Thornhill and west of Moffat. It is a former Royal Burgh. It is notable for its tiny post office, established in 1712 and considered the oldest working p ...

in south-west Scotland in February 1814. In 1837 he was ordained at Lothian Road Church in

. He lived then at 30 Alva Street. Although he remained in the established church at the

he left in the second schism of 1847, at the creation of the

United Presbyterian Church of Scotland The United Presbyterian Church (1847–1900) was a Scottish Presbyterian denomination. It was formed in 1847 by the union of the United Secession Church and the Relief Church, and in 1900 merged with the Free Church of Scotland to form the U ...

. In 1870 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

his proposer being

John Hutton Balfour John Hutton Balfour (15 September 1808 – 11 February 1884) was a Scottish botanist. Balfour became a Professor of Botany, first at the University of Glasgow in 1841, moving to the Edinburgh University, University of Edinburgh and also becomin ...

. In 1900 the United Presbyterian Church merged with the bulk of the congregations of the Free Church of Scotland to create the

United Free Church of Scotland The United Free Church of Scotland (UF Church; , ) is a Scottish Presbyterian denomination formed in 1900 by the union of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland (or UP) and the Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900), majority of the 19th-cen ...

. Thomson died at home, 62 Northumberland Street, a very substantial Georgian townhouse in Edinburgh's Second New Town on 9 February 1901. He is buried in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and o ...

in western Edinburgh. The grave is marked by a pale grey granite Celtic cross and lies in the first northern extension of the cemetery, near the north path. Both of Thompson's churches survive but both are now in secular use: the Lothian Road Church is now the

Edinburgh Filmhouse The Edinburgh Filmhouse is a cinema located in Edinburgh, Scotland, which opened in 1979. It was home to the world's oldest continually running film festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival. The cinema closed in October 2022 when its pare ...

; the Broughton Place Church is an auction house.

Family

He was married to Margaret Cleland Buchanan (d.1898).

Publications

* ''Life of John Owen, D.D.'' (1853) * ''Great Missionaries'' vol 1 : a series of biographies (1862) * ''Life of Principal Harper'' (1882) * ''Great Missionaries'' vol 2 : a series of biographies (1870) * Historical sketch of the origin of the Secession Church 1848 * The Life of Dr. Owen * ''The Sabbath - a History'' (1863) * ''Sketches of Scripture Characters'' (circa 1867) * Home life in ancient Palestine: or, Studies in the Book of Ruth (1877) * In the Holy Land - 1875 * Discourses - 1868 *

Samuel Rutherford Samuel Rutherford (also Rutherfurd or Rutherfoord; – 29 March 1661) was a Scottish Presbyterian pastor and theology, theologian and one of the Scottish Commissioners to the Westminster Assembly. Life Samuel Rutherford was born in t ...

1884 * James Darling: a memorial sketch 1891 * In the Holy land: A Journey Through Palestine 1894 * The New Acts of the Apostles, Or, The Marvels of Modern Missions: A Series of Lectures Upon the ... * ''

Thomas Boston Thomas Boston (17 March 167620 May 1732) was a Scottish Presbyterian church leader, theologian and philosopher. Boston was successively schoolmaster at Glencairn, and minister of Simprin in Berwickshire, and Ettrick in Selkirkshire. In addition ...

of Ettrick : his life and times'' (1895)

Artistic Recognition

He was painted by Sir

Henry Raeburn Sir Henry Raeburn (; 4 March 1756 – 8 July 1823) was a Scottish portrait painter. He served as Portrait Painter to King George IV in Scotland. Biography Raeburn was born the son of a manufacturer in Stockbridge, on the Water of Leith: a f ...

in 1827.

References

External links

Online bio of Andrew Thomson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Andrew 1814 births 1901 deaths British biographers 19th-century ministers of the Church of Scotland People from Sanquhar