John Cook (24 November 1771–28 November 1824) was a Scottish minister, historian and amateur artist. He was a pioneer in the field of Biblical Criticism.

Life

He was born on 24 November 1771 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 ...

, the first son of John Cook and his wife, Janet Hill, sister of George Hill. He was the first of 12 children. His birthdate is sometimes shown in records as 1771 to disguise his birth being less than 9 months after his parents' marriage. He studied Divinity 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 ...

under his father and was licensed to preach 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 ...

. In 1793 he became minister of

Kilmany Kilmany (Scottish Gaelic: ''Cille Mheinidh'') is a village and parish in Fife, Scotland. It is located on the A92 between Auchtermuchty and the Tay Road Bridge. In 2001 it had a population of 75. The current name of the village derives from an ...

. A technically skilled album of his drawings (mainly townscapes in St Andrews) from 1797 is in the possession of the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

. In 1802 he was appointed Professor of Hebrew at

. He was later given the first university Chair in Biblical Criticism (1808-1824). He died in St Andrews on 28 November 1824 aged 54.

Family

He married his cousin, Elisabeth Hill, daughter of George Hill. They had at least seven children. He was father to John Cook (1807-1869) who in turn was father to Rachel Cook. His brother was George Cook. He married 2 July 1803, Elizabeth (died 12 September 1848), daughter of George Hill, D.D., Principal of St Mary's College, and had issue — *Harriet, died 1805 *Alexander, born 1804, died 1839 *Janet, born 11 January 1806, died 20 May 1842 *John, D.D., professor of Church History, St Andrews, born 1 September 1807 *George, minister of Kincardine O'Neil, born 27 March 1809 *Elizabeth, born 15 August 1812, died at Rome 1878 *Walter, lieut. Madras Infantry, born 19 January 1815, died 1838 *Alexander, born 1 May 1821.

Publications

*''An Inquiry into the Books of the New Testament'' (Edinburgh, 1821) *''An Album of Watercolours of St Andrews'' (1797)

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, John 1770 births 1824 deaths 19th-century ministers of the Church of Scotland 19th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers Academics of the University of St Andrews Alumni of the University of St Andrews 18th-century ministers of the Church of Scotland 18th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers