George Alexander Frank Knight

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". ...

(1869–1937) was a Scottish minister, author and advocate of the

Temperance Movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting Temperance (virtue), temperance or total abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and ...

. In literature he is usually referred to as G. A. Frank Knight.

Life

He was born in the Free Church manse in

Dollar, Clackmannanshire Dollar () is a small town in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, with an estimated population of in . It is east of Stirling. Toponymy The name is unrelated to the dollar currency name. Possible interpretations are that Dollar is derived from ''Doi ...

, in 1869, the son of Rev George Halley Knight and his wife Marianne Sommerville, and grandson of the Rev George Fulton Knight and nephew of the Rev

William Angus Knight William Angus Knight (22 February 1836 – 4 March 1916) was a Scottish Free Church minister and author and Professor of Moral Philosophy at St Andrews University. He created the Lady Literate in Arts qualification. Life He was born in the ma ...

.Ewing, William ''Annals of the Free Church'' He was educated at

Dollar Academy Dollar Academy is a 5–18 Private schools in the United Kingdom, private co-educational day and boarding school for boys and girls in Scotland. The open campus occupies a site in the centre of Dollar, Clackmannanshire, at the foot of the Ochil ...

. He then studied at

Aberdeen University The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen and Chancellor of Scotland, petitioned Pope Al ...

and

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 MA before studying Divinity at the Free Church College in Glasgow. He began preaching at the Free Church of Scotland in

Auchterarder Auchterarder (; , meaning Upper Highland) is a town north of the Ochil Hills in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, and home to the Gleneagles Hotel. The High Street of Auchterarder gave the town its popular name of "The Lang Toun" or Long Town. The ...

around 1892. In 1900, on the creation 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 ...

he moved to St Leonards-in-the-Fields Church,

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 ...

. 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 ...

in 1901. His proposers were

Malcolm Laurie Malcolm Laurie FRSE FLS (27 February 1866 – 16 July 1932) was a Scottish zoologist and palaeontologist. Biography He was born in Brunstane House south of Portobello, Edinburgh on 27 February 1866, the son of Catherine Ann Hibburd and h ...

Robert Kidston Robert Kidston (29 June 1852 – 13 July 1924) was a Scottish botanist and palaeobotanist. Life He was born in Bishopton House in Renfrewshire on 29 June 1852 the youngest of twelve children of Robert Alexander Kidston, a Glasgow businessman, ...

William Evans Hoyle Dr William Evans Hoyle FRSE (28 January 1855 – 7 February 1926) was a British zoologist. A specialist in deep sea creatures, he worked on classification and illustrations from the Challenger expedition, ''Challenger'' expedition from 1882 ...

and

John Gray McKendrick John Gray McKendrick (12 August 1841 – 2 January 1926) was a Scottish physiologist. He served as Regius Professor of Physiology at the University of Glasgow from 1876 to 1906, and was co-founder of the Physiological Society. Early life McKe ...

. In 1907 he was living at 9 St Leonards Bank on the South Inch in Perth. In 1914 succeeded Rev Dr Reith at Kelvingrove United Free Church. He was then living at 52 Sardinia Terrace 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 ...

. In 1928 he took on the role of general secretary to the National Bible Society of Scotland. He died suddenly on 2 May 1937.

Family

He married Annie Baillie Adamson, daughter of Rev Thomas Adamson of the Free Church of Scotland. His namesake grandson, generally known as G. A. F. Knight in literature, was also a Biblical scholar and served as the moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand in 1974.

Publications

*''The Marine Mollusca of Port Stewart, Northern Ireland'' (1901) *''Greatheart'' (1914) *''Nile and Jordan'' (1921) *''Archaeological Light on the Early Christianizing of Scotland'' (1933)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, George Alexander Frank 1869 births 1937 deaths Scottish non-fiction writers Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh People educated at Dollar Academy People from Dollar, Clackmannanshire Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Alumni of the University of Glasgow Scottish temperance activists 19th-century ministers of the Free Church of Scotland 19th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers 20th-century ministers of the Free Church of Scotland 20th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers