James Murison (c. 1705–1779) was a Scottish minister who served as Principal of St Leonard's College 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 ...

and

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 ...

in 1767.

Life

He was born around 1705 in

Kincardineshire Kincardineshire or the County of Kincardine, also known as the Mearns (from the Scottish Gaelic meaning "the stewartry"), is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area on the ...

. Studying divinity at Kings College, Aberdeen he graduated MA in April 1721. After a long wait for a patron (then essential in the Scottish church), he was proposed as minister of

Edzell Edzell (; ; ) is a village in Angus, Scotland. It is 5 miles (8 km) north of Brechin, by the River North Esk. Edzell is a Georgian-era planned town, with a broad main street and a grid system of side streets. Originally called Slateford, ...

and Newdosk in June 1729 and accepted and ordained on 17 September 1729. In October 1743, he was translated to Kinnell Church, near

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the Subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland, Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast, some east-northeast of ...

. In March 1747, he is recorded as having had been robbed at his manse in Kinnell. In September 1747, he left the ministry to become principal of St Marys College, St Andrews and in March 1748 became rector of

. In 1779, he is recorded as being in very poor health. He died on 30 July 1779. His position at St Andrews University was succeeded by Rev Dr James Gillespie.The History of St Andrews (1843)

Family

On 12 October 1744, he married Annabella Trent (died 1761) in

Leuchars Leuchars (pronounced or ; "rushes") is a town and parish near the north-east coast of Fife in Scotland. The civil parish has a population of 5,754 (in 2011) Census of Scotland 2011, Table KS101SC – Usually Resident Population, publ. by Nati ...

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 ...

. She was his second wife. His children included James Murison of Denbrae (c. 1740 – 1803 Mid Calder), a child from his first marriage.

References

1779 deaths 18th-century ministers of the Church of Scotland 18th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Academics of the University of St Andrews Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Year of birth uncertain {{Scotland-reli-bio-stub