Joseph McCormick

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

FSA (1733–1799) was a Scottish clergyman 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 1782 and was a joint founder of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

in 1783.

Life

He was born 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 ...

on 22 January 1733, one of six children to Rev John McCormick, a local minister, and his wife, Anna Drew. 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 ...

and graduated MA in 1750. He was licensed to preach as a

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 ...

minister by the Presbytery of

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 ...

in 1757, but was not ordained until April 1760 when he became minister of Kilmany, but only stayed a few months before translating to

Temple, Midlothian Temple () is a village and civil parish in Midlothian, Scotland. Situated to the south of Edinburgh, the village lies on the east bank of the river South Esk. The civil parish has a population of 225 (in 2011).Census of Scotland 2011, Table KS1 ...

. In 1771 he moved to

Prestonpans Prestonpans ( , Scots: ''The Pans'') is a mining town, situated approximately eight miles east of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the council area of East Lothian. The population as of is . It is near the site of the 1745 Battle of Prestonpans (first ...

and remained there until 1781.''Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae''; vol. 7'; by Hew Scott From July 1781 he served as Principal of the combined colleges of St Salvators and St Leonards at

. He was elected

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 ...

in 1782. From 1788 he also served as

Dean of the Chapel Royal The Dean of the Chapel Royal, in any kingdom, can be the title of an official charged with oversight of that kingdom's chapel royal, the ecclesiastical establishment which is part of the royal household and ministers to it. England In England ...

in Scotland. He died on 17 June 1799. He is buried in the graveyard of

St Andrews Cathedral The Cathedral of St Andrew (often referred to as St Andrews Cathedral) is a ruined cathedral in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. It was built in 1158 and became the centre of the Medieval Catholic Church in Scotland as the seat of the Archdiocese o ...

. The grave lies on the wall to the west of the central tower.

Family

In May 1770 he married Mary Simson daughter of Joseph Simson of Bristol. They had six children. As a widow Mary retired to the manse in

Kilconquhar Kilconquhar (, locally also ) is a village and parish in Fife in Scotland. It includes the small hamlet of Barnyards. It is bounded by the parishes of Elie, Ceres, Cameron, St Monans, Carnbee, Newburn and Largo.Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotl ...

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 ...

to live with her daughter Elizabeth and her husband Rev Dr William Ferris the local minister and died there in 1822.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCormick, Joseph 1733 births 1799 deaths People from St Andrews Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 18th-century ministers of the Church of Scotland 18th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers Academics of the University of St Andrews Fellows_of_the_Society_of_Antiquaries_of_London