James Calder Macphail (21 February 1821 – 12 February 1908) was a Scottish

Free Church A free church is any Christian denomination that is intrinsically separate from government (as opposed to a state church). A free church neither defines government policy, nor accept church theology or policy definitions from the government. A f ...

minister and

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

tutor. He is best remembered as a pioneer photographer and one of the first to photograph the

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

Life

He was born on 21 February 1821 near

Loch Broom Loch Broom (, "loch of rain showers") is a sea loch located in northwestern Ross and Cromarty, in the former parish of Lochbroom, on the west coast of Scotland. The small town of Ullapool lies on the eastern shore of the loch. Little Loch Br ...

Wester Ross Wester Ross () is an area of the Northwest Highlands of Scotland in the council area of Highland. The area is loosely defined, and has never been used as a formal administrative region in its own right, but is generally regarded as lying to th ...

in northern Scotland. In 1847/8 he travelled to Italy and Malta. Four photographs from this trip still exist. He was a friend to James Dunlop (1830-1858) and his uncle Alexander Earle Monteith. His friend

Cosmo Innes Cosmo Nelson Innes FRSE (9 September 1798 – 31 July 1874) was a Scottish advocate, judge, historian and antiquary. He served as Advocate-Depute, Sheriff of Elginshire, and Principal Clerk of Session. He was a skilled decipherer of ancient ...

encouraged him to take an interest in photography and he joined the

Edinburgh Calotype Club The Edinburgh Calotype Club (1843 – c.1850s) of Scotland was the first photographic club in the world. Its members consisted of pioneering photographers primarily from Edinburgh and St Andrews. The efforts of the Club's members resulted in ...

in 1843 aged only 22. He studied divinity at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

, Divinity College and

New College, Edinburgh New College is a historic building at the The University of Edinburgh, University of Edinburgh which houses the university's School of Divinity. It is one of the largest and most renowned centres for studies in Theology and Religious studies, R ...

. After being licensed 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 ...

he served as assistant minister at Enzie. He was ordained in the Free Church of Scotland in 1849, and his first charge was the East Free Church in

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

. In 1868 he moved to the newly completed

Pilrig Pilrig is an area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The name probably derives from the long field (rig) on which a peel tower (pil/peel) stood. There is evidence of a peel tower situated on an area of higher ground above the Water of ...

Church on

Leith Walk Leith Walk is one of the longest streets in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is the main road connecting the east end of the city centre to Leith. Forming most of the A900 road, it slopes downwards from Picardy Place at the south-western end of the str ...

William Garden Blaikie William Garden Blaikie FRSE (5 February 1820, in Aberdeen – 11 June 1899) was a Scottish minister, writer, biographer, and temperance reformer. Life His father James Ogilvie Blaikie was the first Provost of Aberdeen following its reforme ...

who oversaw the building of the new church, replacing an earlier structure by

David Cousin David Cousin (19 May 1809 – 14 August 1878) was a Scottish architect, landscape architect and Urban planning, planner, closely associated with early cemetery design and many prominent buildings in Edinburgh, Scotland, Edinburgh. From 1841 to ...

on the opposite side of Pilrig Street. He would have then lived in the associated manse, at the north end of Pilrig Street facing the grounds of Pilrig House (later becoming Pilrig Park). In 1869 he founded a bursary to Gaelic-speaking boys to fund their university education for the Free Church of Scotland. In the 1870s he made a photographic tour of the Holy Land. He was a member of the

. Macphail remained minister of Pilrig Church until at least 1895, continuing to live at Pilrig manse. By this stage 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 ...

granted him an honorary doctorate (DD). He left Edinburgh on retiral around 1896. He died on 12 February 1908 and is buried in the first northern extension of

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and o ...

in western

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 ...

. The grave lies in the first northern extension facing south onto the south path.

Family

He was married to Ann Badenach Nicolson (1834-1918) daughter of Robert Badenoch and Ann Wilson (a wealthy landowner).Ewing, William ''Annals of the Free Church'' They had two daughters, Annie Catherine Phebe Macphail and Sybella Mary Macphail. His elder son James Robert Nicolson Macphail (1858-1933) was an antiquary, while his younger son

Earle Monteith Macphail Earle may refer to: * Earle (given name) * Earle (surname) Places * Earle, Arkansas, a city in Crittenden County, Arkansas, US * Earle, Indiana, an unincorporated town in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, US * Earle, Northumberland, a settlement in Ber ...

(1861-1937) was a missionary to India who became principal (1921) and vice-chancellor (1923-5) of

Madras University The University of Madras is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and most prominent universities in India, incorporated by an ...

and rose to a senior position in colonial politics, rising to become deputy chairman of the Legislative Assembly of India in 1927.

Publications

*''Old Stones for a New Church'' (1877)

Gallery

File:Pilrig manse, Edinburgh.jpg, Pilrig manse, Edinburgh File:The grave of Rev Dr James Calder Macphail, Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh.jpg, The grave of Rev Dr James Calder Macphail, Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh File:Pilrig St. Paul's Church - geograph.org.uk - 1213834.jpg, Pilrig St. Paul's Church

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macphail, James Calder 1821 births 1908 deaths 19th-century Scottish photographers 19th-century ministers of the Free Church of Scotland 19th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers Burials at the Dean Cemetery People from Ross and Cromarty Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish educators Scottish Gaelic language activists 19th-century Scottish philanthropists