George Cook (1812–1888) was a minister of 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 ...

, who served as

Moderator of the General Assembly The moderator of the General Assembly is the Chair (official), chairperson of a General Assembly (presbyterian church), General Assembly, the highest court of a Presbyterian or Calvinism, Reformed church. Kirk sessions and presbytery (church pol ...

in 1876. He was part of the "Cook Dynasty" (mainly centred in

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

) and both his father and brother also served as Moderator.

Life

He was born in the manse of

Laurencekirk Laurencekirk (, , ), locally known as Lournie or simply 'The Kirk', is a small town in the historic county of Kincardineshire, Scotland, just off the A90 Dundee to Aberdeen main road. It is administered as part of Aberdeenshire. It is the l ...

on 11 June 1812 the son of George Cook who served as Moderator in 1825 and was later Professor of Moral Philosophy at

St Andrews University The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, following the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, t ...

. He was educated at Laurencekirk parish school then studied divinity at

graduating MA around 1832. He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of

in 1836. His first clergical role was as assistant to James MacDonald at

Kemback Kemback (Scottish Gaelic: ''Ceann Bac'') is a village and parish in Fife, Scotland, located east of Cupar. The present village was developed in the 19th century to house those working the flax mills on the nearby Ceres Burn. From 1681 the minis ...

. In 1841, as part of the Church's Foreign Missions projects, he was ordained as a Church of Scotland Chaplain in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

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 ...

. After 20 years in India he returned to Scotland as minister of

Bathgate Bathgate ( or , ) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, west of Livingston, Scotland, Livingston and adjacent to the M8 motorway (Scotland), M8 motorway. Nearby towns are Linlithgow, Livingston, and West Calder. A number of villages fall under ...

Parish Church. In May 1867 he translated to Borgue on the south-west coast of Scotland. In 1872 St Andrews University awarded him 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 ...

. In 1876 he succeeded James Sellar 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 ...

the highest position in the Scottish Church. He was succeeded in turn by

K. M. Phin Kenneth Macleay Phin (1816–1888) was a Scottish minister who served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1877. He ran the Church of Scotland’s Home Mission Scheme. As a church campaigner and pamphleteer he was ...

. He died on 29 February 1888.

Family

In June 1842 he married Jane Halkett Pattullo (died 1886) daughter of Robert Pattullo of Balhouffie in

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

. Their children included: *Charlotte Stewart Cook (born 1843) *Rev George Cook (c.1845) minister of

Longformacus Longformacus () is a small village in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It is around north-west of Duns, in the Lammermuir Hills. The Dye Water runs through the village, flowing east towards its confluence with the White ...

*Emily Cook (born 1848) married Rev Dr Alexander Irvine Robertson minister of

Clackmannan Clackmannan ( ; , perhaps meaning "Stone of Manau"), is a small town and civil parish set in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Situated within the Forth Valley, Clackmannan is south-east of Alloa and south of Tillicoultry. The town is within ...

*Henry Shank Cook (born 1854) and his twin Diana, both died in infancy His maternal great uncles were

George Hill (minister) George Hill FRSE (27 May 1750–19 November 1819) was a Presbyterian polity#Minister, Minister of St Andrews. He was a joint founder of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1783 and Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 17 ...

and

John Hill (classicist) John Hill FRSE (27 April 1747 – 7 December 1805) was a Scottish minister and Professor of Humanity at the University of Edinburgh. In 1783 he was one of the joint founders of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Life He was born in St Andrews on ...

Publications

*''Light and Life'' (1877)

References

Citations

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, George 1812 births 1888 deaths Alumni of the University of St Andrews Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland People from Laurencekirk