The Reverend The Reverend (abbreviated as The Revd, The Rev'd or The Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. There are sometimes differen ...

Colin Forrester-Paton (5 April 1918 – 1 February 2004), born at

Alloa Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; , possibly meaning "rock plain") is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot where some say it ceases to ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, was a Church of Scotland missionary in Ghana and later Chaplain to H.M. The Queen in Scotland.

Education

He was born at The Gean, a huge mansion near

, the son of Alexander Forrester Paton (1881-1954) and his wife, Mary Emma Louise Shaw. The Patons were a very rich family and owner of Patons Cotton Thread Mills. The family house was designed by John Melvin & Son in 1912 as a wedding present for his father from his grandfather. Forrester-Paton was educated in

Moffat Moffat is a burgh and parish in Dumfriesshire. Part of the Dumfries and Galloway local authority area in Scotland, it lies on the River Annan, with a population of around 2,500. It was a centre of the wool trade and a spa town. Moffat is arou ...

, at

Gresham's School Gresham's School is a private school (English fee-charging boarding and day school) in Holt, Norfolk, England, one of the top thirty International Baccalaureate schools in England. The school was founded in 1555 by Sir John Gresham as a f ...

, Holt, and

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, where he gained a first class degree ( BA, Honours) in 1940. He then trained for the ministry at the United Free Church College,

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 ...

, and at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, graduating with a BD degree in 1943.

Career

Between 1943 and 1946 Forrester-Paton was secretary of the ''Student Christian Movement'' and became interested in missionary work. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

as a minister of 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 ...

in 1944 and in 1946 was sent to

Akropong Akropong is a town in South Ghana and is the capital of the Akuapim North District, a district in the Eastern Region of South Ghana. This town is known for producing snails and palm oil.

in the Gold Coast (later called

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

) by the

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

's ''Missionary Partner Scheme''. He taught at the Presbyterian Training College of the Gold Coast and worked for the

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Christianity, Reformed Protestantism, Protestant tradition named for its form of ecclesiastical polity, church government by representative assemblies of Presbyterian polity#Elder, elders, known as ...

and the ''Christian Council of Ghana'', especially as a translator (having learnt the

Twi Twi (; ) is the common name of the Akan literary language of Asante and Akuapem. Effectively, it is a synonym for 'Akan' that is not used by the Fante people. It is not a linguistic grouping, but more of a common name used by inland Akans as ...

language and others). He was also stationed at Amedzofe and

Sandema Sandema is the capital town of Builsa North District, a district in the Upper East Region of Ghana. Education The town of Sandema has several educational institutions ranging from Day Care facilities to second cycle institutions. There are thre ...

in Northern

. Forrester-Paton left Ghana in 1972 and in 1973 became a

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 ...

minister in

Hawick Hawick ( ; ; ) is a town in the Scottish Borders council areas of Scotland, council area and counties of Scotland, historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east o ...

. In 1981 he was appointed Chaplain to HM the Queen and after his retirement from the active ministry was appointed an Extra Chaplain to HM the Queen in 1988.

Family

In 1943, Forrester-Paton married Jean Lorimer Crichton Miller (1917–1998), who was then working for the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

. She joined him in the Gold Coast in 1947 and they had three children. Forrester-Paton's grandfather was a rich mill owner, but the family was more concerned with religion than with business and his great-aunt, Catherine Forrester Paton, established a women's missionary training college in

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 ...

. One of his uncles was the Ernest Forrester Paton (1891–1970), a Scottish missionary 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 ...

Papers of Forrester-Paton

* A substantial collection of Forrester-Paton's papers is held at the Centre for the Study of Christianity in the Non-Western World of the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. * The

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS; ; ) is one of Scotland's National Collections. It is one of the largest libraries in the United Kingdom. As well as a public programme of exhibitions, events, workshops, and tours, the National Library of ...

holds his correspondence and reports home to the Church of Scotland from the Gold Coast, later

, between 1954 and 1971 (Accession number 11977).

Sources

Colin Forrester-Paton at Mundus

References

{{Christianity in Ghana 1918 births Alumni of New College, Oxford Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of London People educated at Gresham's School Presbyterian missionaries in Ghana Scottish Presbyterian missionaries 2004 deaths People from Alloa British expatriates in Ghana