John Smith (1854–1927) 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 ...

in 1922 and was also heavily involved in Scottish education including Chairman of

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric: ''Gwovan''; Scots language, Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of southwest Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the sout ...

School Board.

Life

John Smith was born on 14 October 1854, the son of Robert Smith, an iron merchant at Tollcross in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. He was not born in

but moved there at an early age, being educated at St John's Academy, Glasgow then Glasgow High School. Around 1868 he began an apprenticeship as a "measurer". However, he decided he wished to join the church and therefore went to study at

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

around 1872, graduating MA (1877) BD (1880). He was licensed to preach in 1880. Smith was ordained as 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 ...

of North Parish in

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

in June 1881. As with many of the larger Scottish cities, this was one of three parishes contained in one building: the

Church of the Holy Rude The Church of the Holy Rude (Scottish Gaelic: ''Eaglais na Crois Naoimh'') is the medieval parish church of Stirling, Scotland. It is named after the Holyrood (cross), Holy Rood, a relic of the True Cross on which Jesus was crucified. The church ...

. He translated to Partick Parish Church in June 1886 replacing Rev John Calder. In 1903

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 ...

.''Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae''; by Hew Scott; vol. 4 In 1922 he succeeded James A. McClymont as

the highest position in the Scottish Church. He was succeeded in turn by George Milligan. Smith joined Stirling School Board in 1882 and continued a strong interest in education. He was Convenor of the General Assembly's Education Committee and oversaw the Sabbath School Committee. He was also Chairman of Govan's Education Committee for 15 years. He was a member of Glasgow University Court, Chairman of the Scottish Education Committee, President of the Scottish School Boards. He was made an honorary Fellow of the

Educational Institute of Scotland The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) is the oldest teachers' trade union in the world, having been founded in 1847 when dominies became concerned about the effect of changes to the system of education in Scotland on their professional s ...

. He died in Partick on 9 June 1927 and is buried in Craigton Cemetery.

Family

In August 1882 he married author Helen Johnston (1860–1926), daughter of Gilbert Johnston of

Shettleston Shettleston (, ) is an area in the Glasgow#East End, east end of Glasgow in Scotland. Toponymy The origin of the name "Shettleston" is not clear and, like many place-names of possibly medieval origin, has had a multitude of spellings. A papal bu ...

. They had several children: *Jane Briggs Burns Smith (born 1883) married William Stevenson Brownlee of

Clydebank Clydebank () is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Milton beyond) to the w ...

*Helen Johnston Smith (born 1885) married Brodie Smith Gilfillan of Inch *Lt Robert Stanley Smith (born 1887) of the

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's) is a light infantry company (military unit), company (designated as Balaklava Company, 5th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland) and was a line infantry regiment of the British Army tha ...

*Cpt. John Sydney Smith (born 1889) of the

Highland Light Infantry The Highland Light Infantry (HLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1881. It took part in the First World War, First and World War II, Second World Wars, until it was amalgamated with the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1959 t ...

*Esther Struthers Johnston Smith (1891–1907) *Gilbert Johnston Smith (1897–1947) Lt in the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

and

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

captured in 1918 but survived. Qualified as a physician and later served as Governor of

Insein Prison Insein Prison () is located in Yangon Division, near Yangon (Rangoon), the old capital of Myanmar (formerly Burma). From 1988 to 2011 it was run by the military junta of Myanmar, named the State Law and Order Restoration Council from 1988 to 2003 ...

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

Publications

*Short Studies in the Gospel (1901) *

Andrew Melville Andrew Melville (1 August 1545 – 1622) was a Scottish scholar, theologian, poet and religious reformer. His fame encouraged scholars from the European continent to study at Glasgow and St. Andrews. He was born at Baldovie, on 1 August 154 ...

(1910) *Broken Links in Scottish Education (1912) *Rise and Growth of Continuation Classes (1912) *The Hebrew Psalmist and the Scottish Bard (1918) *Education and the Church (1922) He was a joint author of the "Sunday School Teachers Handbook".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, John 1854 births 1927 deaths Clergy from Glasgow Alumni of the University of Glasgow Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland