Samuel Lyle Orr (c. 1850–1930) was an Irish-born minister of the Free Church of Scotland who served as Moderator of the General Assembly in 1913/14. The Lyle Orr Awards have been granted by the Free Church of Scotland annually since 1914 to children showing great Bible knowledge.

Life

He was born in Kilraughts parish, Ballymoney,

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

c. 1850, where he became a teacher before deciding to become a minister. In 1904 he was preaching in

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , " Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the ...

. He moved from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...

to Glasgow in 1908. He was minister of Milton Free Church in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

living at 230 West Regent Street. Milton Free Church is now commonly called the St Vincent Street Church and is by the architect

Greek Thomson Alexander "Greek" Thomson (9 April 1817 – 22 March 1875) was an eminent Scottish architect and architectural theorist who was a pioneer in sustainable building. Although his work was published in the architectural press of his day, it was l ...

. It was one of the architectural gems of the Free Church of Scotland, usually famed for their puritanical approach to church building. In 1913 he was elected

Moderator of the General Assembly The moderator of the General Assembly is the chairperson of a General Assembly, the highest court of a Presbyterian or Reformed church. Kirk sessions and presbyteries may also style the chairperson as moderator. The Oxford Dictionary states t ...

, the highest position in the Free Church of Scotland. He was succeeded in 1914 by

Finlay Macrae Finlay MacRae (born 1986) is a shinty player from Kintail who plays for Kinlochshiel. He is a Scottish International as well as Player of the Year 200 Playing career MacRae, who plays alongside his brothers Keith and Johis considered one of the ...

. Some time around the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

he moved to

Saltcoats Saltcoats ( gd, Baile an t-Salainn) is a town on the west coast of North Ayrshire, Scotland. The name is derived from the town's earliest industry when salt was harvested from the sea water of the Firth of Clyde, carried out in small cottages al ...

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine, North Ayrshi ...

. He died at Ballyalbany, Monaghan, on 17 January 1930.

Family

He was married to Ann Henrietta Orr (1859-1913). His son, James Orr, moved to Belfast and became a Dentist. He married Christina Hood from Galashiels. They had one daughter, Sheilagh Lyle Orr. His daughter Henrietta (1886-1904) is buried at

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Ireland. It also provides the name of its civil parish and barony. The population of the town as of the 2016 census was 7,678. The town is on the N2 road from Dublin to Derry and Letterken ...

with his wife.

Publications

*''Calvin's Idea of the Church in its Bearing on Our History'' (1909) *''Historical Sketch of Ballyalbany Presbyterian Church'' (1940)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orr, Samuel Lyle 1850s births 1930 deaths 19th-century Irish people 20th-century Irish Christian clergy Christian clergy from County Antrim Year of birth uncertain 20th-century Ministers of the Free Church of Scotland People from Ballymoney