David Bogue (18 February 175025 October 1825) was a
Scottish nonconformist religious leader.
Life
He was born at Hallydown Farm, in the parish of
Coldingham,
Berwickshire
Berwickshire (; ) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. The county takes its name from Berwick-upon-Tweed, its original county town, which was part of Scotland at the ...
,
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 ...
, the son of John Bogue, farmer, and his wife, Margaret Swanston. He received his early education in
Eyemouth.
[.]
After studying 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 licensed to preach 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 ...
, but, failing to find a patron in Scotland, was sent by the Church to
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
in 1771, to teach in schools at
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...
,
Hampstead
Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...
and then Mansion House Cottage in
Camberwell
Camberwell ( ) is an List of areas of London, area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross.
Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles' Church, Camberwell, St Giles ...
. In 1777, he settled as minister of the independent Congregational church at
Gosport
Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hampshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 70,131 and the district had a pop ...
in
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
.
His predecessors at the Independent Chapel of Gosport were James Watson (1770–76) and
Thomas Williams (1750–70).
In 1771 he established an institution for
preparing men for the ministry.
It was the age of the new-born
missionary
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...
enterprise, and Bogue's academy was largely the seed from which the
London Missionary Society
The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed tradition, Reformed in outlook, with ...
grew.
In 1800 the society placed missionaries with Bogue for preparation for their ministries.
Among the notable students he taught, the most impactful were the first two Protestant missionaries to China,
Robert Morrison (missionary)
Robert Morrison, Royal Society, FRS (5 January 1782 – 1 August 1834), was an Anglo-Scottish Protestant missions in China 1807–1953, Protestant missionary to Portuguese Macao, Qing Empire, Qing-era Guangdong, and Dutch Malacca, who was also ...
(from 1804 to 1805),
[* Morrison, Eliza (1839)]
Memoirs of the life and labours of Robert Morrison (Vol.1)
London : Orme, Brown, Green, and Longmans. -University of Hong Kong Libraries, Digital Initiatives, China Through Western Eyes and
William Milne (missionary) (from 1809 to 1812).
Bogue himself would have gone to
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 1796 if not for the opposition of the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
.
In 1824 he taught
Samuel Dyer at Gosport before he left for
Penang
Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...
as a missionary with the London Missionary Society.
He was also involved in founding the
British and Foreign Bible Society
The British and Foreign Bible Society, often known in England and Wales as simply the Bible Society, is a non-denominational Christian Bible society with charity status whose purpose is to make the Bible available throughout the world.
The ...
and the
Religious Tract Society
The Religious Tract Society was a British evangelical Christian organization founded in 1799 and known for publishing a variety of popular religious and quasi-religious texts in the 19th century. The society engaged in charity as well as commerc ...
, and in conjunction with
James Bennett, minister at
Romsey
Romsey ( ) is a town in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England. The town is situated northwest of Southampton, southwest of Winchester and southeast of Salisbury. It sits on the outskirts of the New Forest, just over northeast of ...
, wrote a well-known ''History of Dissenters'' (3 vols., 1809). Another of his writings was an ''Essay on the Divine Authority of the New Testament''.
In 1815
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
awarded him a doctor of divinity (DD).
He died on 25 October 1825 in
Brighton
Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
during the London Missionary Society's annual tour.
Publications
*''Reasons for Seeking a Repeal of the Test Acts'' (1790)
*
An Essay on the Divine Authority of the New Testament' (1801)
*''Catechism for the Use of All Churches in the French Empire'' (1807)
*''A History of the Dissenters, from the Revolution of 1688 to 1808'' 4 vols. (1808–12) vol. 1, vol. 2
vol. 3vol. 4
Notes
;Attribution
References
*
*
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bogue, David
1750 births
1825 deaths
Scottish Calvinist and Reformed theologians
Scottish Congregationalists
People from the Scottish Borders