Thomas Jackson Crawford (1812–1875) was a Scottish minister and professor of divinity at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. He 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 1867, the highest level within the Scottish church. He wrote extensively on religious matters and was vocal in his adherence to the established

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 ...

both during and following 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

on 13th February 1812 the son of Agnes McDermeit and the Rev Prof William Crawford DD (died 1822), Professor of Moral Philosophy at United College at 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 ...

. Thomas was educated at the High School 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 ...

and then returned to St Andrews to study divinity at the University, graduating with MA in 1831. In 1834 he became a minister in

Cults Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ha ...

, and in 1838, transferred to

Glamis Glamis is a small village in Angus, Scotland, located south of Kirriemuir and southwest of Forfar. It is the location of Glamis Castle, the childhood home of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. History The vicinity of Glamis has prehistoric t ...

to the west. In 1844 he moved to

as "second charge" minister of

St Andrew's Church St. Andrew's Church, Church of St Andrew, or variants thereof, may refer to: Albania * St. Andrew's Church, Himarë Australia Australian Capital Territory * St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Canberra, founded by John Walker (Presbyterian minis ...

on George Street, firstly under Rev Thomas Clark then under Rev John Stuart. During the

within the church, he was a strong advocate and campaigner of remaining within the established

. In 1859, over and above his ministering duties, he was made professor of divinity at the University of Edinburgh and continued in this role until 1875. At this time he was living at 13 Great King Street, a large Georgian townhouse in Edinburgh’s Second New Town. In 1861 he was made

Chaplain in Ordinary ''In ordinary'' is an English phrase with multiple meanings. In relation to the Royal Household and public officials more generally, it indicates that a position is a permanent one (in contrast to positions that are extraordinary). In naval matt ...

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

. In 1867 his eminence led to him being elected

, succeeding Very Rev John Cook. He was elected a Fellow 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 1871, his proposer being

John Hutton Balfour John Hutton Balfour (15 September 1808 – 11 February 1884) was a Scottish botanist. Balfour became a Professor of Botany, first at the University of Glasgow in 1841, moving to the Edinburgh University, University of Edinburgh and also becomin ...

. He died in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

on 11 October 1875. His body was returned to Edinburgh, where he was buried in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and o ...

on 12 January 1876 next to his wife, Mary Rankin (1830–1853) who had died young. The grave lies on the north wall of the original cemetery.

Publications

*''Reasons of Adherence to the Church of Scotland'' (1843) *''An Argument for Jewish Missionaries'' (1847) *''Presbyterianism Defended Against the Exclusive Claims of Prelacy'' (1853) *''Presbytery or Prelacy'' (1867) *''The Fatherhood of God'' (1867) *''The Doctrine of Holy Scripture, Respecting the Atonement'' (1871) *''The Mysteries of Christianity'' (1874)

Family

He married twice: firstly to Mary Rankine (1830-1853) daughter of Robert Rankine, a

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

merchant, who died aged only 23; secondly to Elizabeth Robertson, daughter of William Robertson of

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. He had two sons by the second marriage: William Thomas Crawford MD (d. 1925) and George William Crawford.

Artistic recognition

His marble bust, by

William Brodie William Brodie (28 September 1741 – 1 October 1788), often known by his title of Deacon Brodie, was a Scottish cabinet-maker, deacon of a trades guild, and Edinburgh city councillor, who maintained a secret life as a burglar in order to supp ...

, is within the

Art Collection. An early photographic negative (1843) by

Hill & Adamson Hill & Adamson was the first photography studio in Scotland, set up by painter David Octavius Hill and engineer Robert Adamson in 1843. During their brief partnership that ended with Adamson's untimely death, Hill & Adamson produced "the first ...

is held by the

Scottish National Portrait Gallery National Galleries Scotland: Portrait is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. Portrait holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the Scottish National Photography Collec ...

References

*''Dictionary of National Biography'':Thomas Jackson Crawford {{DEFAULTSORT:Crawford, Thomas Jackson 1812 births 1875 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 19th-century ministers of the Church of Scotland 19th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers Scottish Calvinist and Reformed theologians 19th-century Scottish writers Academics of the University of Edinburgh People from St Andrews Alumni of the University of St Andrews Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland