Thomas Nicol (1846–1916) was Professor of Biblical Criticism at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

. 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 1914.

Life

He was born 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 21 October 1846. Son of Thomas Nicol (agricultural labourer) and Christina Mackie of Fordoun, Kincardineshire, Scotland. He was educated at

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in Stockbridge, Edinburgh, Stockbridge, is now part of the Senior Scho ...

. He was minister of Kells in Galloway 1873 to 1879 and minister of the Tolbooth Kirk in Edinburgh 1879 to 1898/9. In 1898 he was appointed Professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism at the

, replacing Prof David Johnston. In 1907 he delivered

The Baird Lecture ''The Baird Lecture'' is a lectureship that was endowed by James Baird to promote the Christian religion. History and endowment In 1873 James Baird established The Baird Trust and gave into its care £500,000 to be used for aggressive Christian ...

entitled "The Four Gospels in the Earliest Church History". In the early 20th century he lived at 53 College Bounds in

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

. He died at

Skelmorlie Skelmorlie is a village in North Ayrshire in the southwest of Scotland. Although it is the northernmost settlement in the council area of North Ayrshire it is contiguous with Wemyss Bay, which is in Inverclyde, and has a PA zone postcode unl ...

on 7 August 1916 and is buried in the

Grange Cemetery The Grange (originally St Giles' Grange) is an affluent suburb of Edinburgh, just south of the city centre, with Morningside and Greenhill to the west, Newington to the east, The Meadows park and Marchmont to the north, and Blackford Hi ...

. The grave lies close to the south-east corner.

Family

He was married to Annie Underwood (1857–1934). Their children included Thomas Nicol (1875–1972) John Underwood Nicol (1884–1946).

Publications

*''Recent Archaeology and the Bible'' (1897) *''Analytical Concordance to the Bible'' (1911) (with

William Barron Stevenson William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...

) *''Syriac Versions of the Bible'' (1915)

References

1846 births 1916 deaths Clergy from Edinburgh Academics from Edinburgh Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Academics of the University of Aberdeen People educated at Edinburgh Academy Burials at the Grange Cemetery {{Scotland-reli-bio-stub