David Ritchie

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". ...

(1763–1844) was a Scottish minister who served as

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week in Edinburgh every year. After chairing the Ass ...

for the year 1814/15.

Life

He was born in Methven in

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

in 1763. He studied divinity at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

, and 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 ...

in 1789. Awaiting a patron, he spent some time as the schoolteacher at Trinity Gask, a small village west of

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. Not until February 1798 did he obtain a post as an assistant minister, rising to minister in October, at

Penicuik Penicuik ( ; ; ) is a town and former Police burgh, burgh in Midlothian, Scotland, lying on the west bank of the River Esk, Lothian, River North Esk. It lies on the A701 road, A701 midway between Edinburgh and Peebles, east of the Pentland Hil ...

south of

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 ...

. He then moved in quick succession to

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

(1800) and then to Second charge of St Andrew's Church on George Street in

(1801). In Edinburgh he also served as Chaplain to the 1st Battalion Edinburgh Volunteers.''Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae''; by Hew Scott In 1808 he left the ministry to become Professor of Logic and Metaphysics at 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 ...

. At that time he lived at 104

Princes Street Princes Street () is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (three quar ...

. In 1811 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 proposers were Dr John Barclay,

Thomas Charles Hope Thomas Charles Hope (21 July 1766 – 13 June 1844) was a Scottish physician, chemist and lecturer. He proved the existence of the element strontium, and gave his name to Hope's Experiment, which shows that water reaches its maximum density at ...

, and Rev Andrew Brown. The

awarded him an honorary doctorate (DD) in 1813. From 1802 he was Junior Clerk of the General Assembly and in 1814 he was elected Moderator. He was awarded an honorary

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

(DD) by Edinburgh University in 1813. He was appointed Honorary Chaplain (Pontifex Maximus) of the

Harveian Society of Edinburgh The Harveian Society of Edinburgh was founded in April 1782 by Andrew Duncan (physician, born 1744), Andrew Duncan. The Society holds an annual Festival in honour of the life and works of William Harvey, the physician who first correctly des ...

and remanned in the role until 1832. He retired in 1836 and died at home on 10 January 1844, at 28 Broughton PlaceEdinburgh Post Office Directory 1843-44 in east Edinburgh. He is buried in

New Calton Burial Ground New Calton Burial Ground is a burial ground in Edinburgh. It was built as an overspill and functional replacement to Old Calton Burial Ground and lies half a mile to its east on Regent Road in Edinburgh, Scotland, on the south-east slopes of Cal ...

Family

In 1811 he married Margaret Pearson (d.1840) daughter of William Pearson of Kippenross. They had two daughters: Jane Frances Ritchie (1812-1838), Margaret AnnRitchie (1814-1826).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritchie, David 1763 births 1844 deaths People from Perthshire 18th-century ministers of the Church of Scotland 18th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers Alumni of the University of St Andrews Academics of the University of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 19th-century ministers of the Church of Scotland 19th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers