James Chrystal or Crystal (1807–1901) 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 ...

from 1879 to 1880.

Life

He was born in 1807 on Cochrane Street in Glasgow, the second son of William Chrystal, the rector of Glasgow Grammar School. He was educated at the Grammar School then studied at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

graduating MA in 1825. He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Glasgow in 1829 and presented to the congregation of Auchinleck in

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

by Sir James Boswell of Auchinleck on 25 April 1833, being ordained there on 19 September 1833. He was sometimes Clerk of Presbytery. 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 ...

(D.D.) by Glasgow University in 1861); and an honorary

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

by St Andrews University in 1893). He is mentioned in 1835 as donating £3 3s 6d from Auchinleck to general church funds 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 ...

under the remit of

Thomas Chalmers Thomas Chalmers (17 March 178031 May 1847), was a Scottish Presbyterian minister, professor of theology, political economist, and a leader of both the Church of Scotland and of the Free Church of Scotland (1843—1900), Free Church of Scotl ...

. In 1838 he is listed as a formal dinner guest in Cumnock. In 1879 he succeeded The Very Reverend John Tulloch 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 ...

the highest position within the

. He was minister of Auchinleck from 1833 to 1893, 60 years service, being replaced by Rev James Hill. He died on 6 February 1901 as Father of the Church.

Family

In October 1834 he married Sophia Playfair (d. 1890) daughter of Patrick Playfair of Dalmarnock a Glasgow merchant trading with the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

. Their children included William (1835-1845); Jane Playfair (1837-1884); Patrick Chrystal (1838-1885); James Robert Chrystal (b.1839) minister of Coltness; Andrew (1841-1885) merchant in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

; David (1843-1857); John Smith Chrystal (b. 1845); Sophia Ann (b. 1847) married Rev Pearson McAdam Muir (moderator in 1910).''Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae''; vol. 3; by Hew Scott

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crystal, James 1807 births 1901 deaths People from Auchinleck Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Alumni of the University of Glasgow 19th-century ministers of the Church of Scotland 19th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers 20th-century ministers of the Church of Scotland 20th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers