Robert Elder (1808–1892) was a Scottish minister of the Free Church of Scotland who served 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 ...

to the Free Church 1871/72.

Life

He was born in

Inverary Inveraray ( or ; meaning "mouth of the Aray") is a town in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. Located on the western shore of Loch Fyne, near its head, Inveraray is a former royal burgh and known affectionately as "The Capital of Argyll." It is the ...

on 28 July 1808, the son of John Elder, Comptroller of Customs, and his wife, Euphemia Beith. The family moved to

Campbeltown Campbeltown (; or ) is a town and former royal burgh in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies by Campbeltown Loch on the Kintyre Peninsula. Campbeltown became an important centre for Scotch whisky, and a busy fishing port. The 2018 populatio ...

while he was young and he was educated at Campbeltown Grammar School. He studied divinity 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 ...

graduating MA in 1825 and was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Kintyre in November 1829. He was ordained 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 ...

at Kilbrandon in March 1831, in succession to

Alexander Beith Alexander Beith (1799–1891) was a Scottish divine and author who served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900), Free Church of Scotland 1858/59. Early life and education He was born at Campbelt ...

. He was translated to

Killin Killin (; ) is a village in Perthshire in the central Highlands of Scotland. Situated at the western head of Loch Tay, it is administered by the Stirling Council area. Killin is a historic conservation village and sits within the Loch Lomond ...

in 1834, and in 1838 to St Paul's Church, Edinburgh.Ewing, William ''Annals of the Free Church'' He left the established church in the

Disruption of 1843 The Disruption of 1843, also known as the Great Disruption, was a schism in 1843 in which 450 evangelical ministers broke away from the Church of Scotland to form the Free Church of Scotland. The main conflict was over whether the Church of Sc ...

creating Free St Paul's Church in Edinburgh and moved to the Free West Church in

Rothesay Rothesay ( ; ) is the principal town on the Isle of Bute, in the council area of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies along the coast of the Firth of Clyde. It can be reached by a Caledonian MacBrayne ferry from Wemyss Bay, which also offers an ...

on the isle of Bute in 1847. In 1871 he succeeded the Rev John Wilson as

, the highest position in the Free Church. He was succeeded in turn in 1872 by Rev

Charles John Brown Charles John Brown (born 13 October 1959) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who has been serving as an apostolic nuncio since 2012. He is currently the apostolic nuncio to the Philippines. Before entering the diplomatic service of ...

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 ...

in 1871. He retired to 1 Admiral Terrace in Edinburgh in 1882. He died in

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 ...

on 30 March 1892. He is buried in the East Preston Street Burial Ground.

Family

In April 1838 he married Margaret Robson (1807–1901) daughter of John Robson of

Oban Oban ( ; meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William, Highland, Fort William. During the tourist seaso ...

and had issue — *Euphemia Beith, born 21 January 1839 *John Robson, born 22 June 1840, died 23 May 1897 *Margaret Matilda, born 1 April 1842 *Julia, born 24 September 1844, died 19 March 1846 *Nancy Eliza, born 4 July 1846. They had at least four daughters, two of which married Free Church ministers. His son John Robson Elder, was also a Free Church minister.Grave of Robert Elder, East Preston St Cemetery

Publications

Edinburgh-presbytery-seated-rev-robert-elder-rev-d

*Non-Intrusion, a lecture (Edinburgh, 1840) *Danger of Spiritual Ignorance, a sermon (Edinburgh, 1841) *On the Conversion of the Jews, a lecture (Edinburgh, 1842) *Sermon in Vol. II. , Free Church Pulpit (Edinburgh, 1846) *The Soul's Deliverance, a lecture (Glasgow, 1861) *Present Trial and Future Glory, Memorial Sermons (Glasgow, 1868) *Thesis on Doctrine of the Sacraments (Glasgow, 1871) *The Unchanging Saviour, Memorial Sermons (Greenock, 1876) *Free Church Principles, a lecture (Glasgow, 1877) *Sermon in Vol. Modern Scottish Pulpit (Edinburgh, 1880).

References

;Citations ;Sources * * * * 1808 births 1892 deaths Clergy from Argyll and Bute 19th-century ministers of the Church of Scotland 19th-century ministers of the Free Church of Scotland 19th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers {{Scotland-reli-bio-stub