Thomas Randall Davidson (1747–1827) was 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 and landowner.

Life

He was born Thomas Randall in July 1747, the son of Rev Thomas Randall (b.1710), minister of

Inchture Inchture () is a village in Scotland between Dundee and Perth on the northern side of the Firth of Tay. It is approximately from Dundee city centre and from Perth. The village is bypassed by on the A90 trunk road and benefits from a flyover ...

west of

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

. Early education was at least in part at a college in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. His family had strong Dutch connections and he studied at the

University of Leyden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange as a Protestant institution, it holds the distinction of being the oldest university in the Neth ...

. He was licensed to preach as a Presbyterian minister by the authorities in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

in June 1769. He preached a little in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. In 1771 he returned to his home town of Inchture to replace his father as parish minister of Inchture, his father having translated to

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

. In 1773 he translated to the "Outer High" Church in

. In November 1778 he translated to

Lady Yester's Church Lady Yester's Kirk was a parish church of the Church of Scotland and one of the burgh churches of Edinburgh. Founded in 1647, it served the south-eastern part of Edinburgh's Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town until its union with Greyfriars Kirk in 19 ...

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 place of Rev James MacKnight. In 1785 he succeeded Rev Alexander Webster as minister of Tolbooth Parish: one of the four parishes contained within

St Giles Cathedral St Giles' Cathedral (), or the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Old Town of Edinburgh. The current building was begun in the 14th century and extended until the early 16th century; significant alteratio ...

. His writings began attracting international attention and

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in the USA 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 1793. In 1794, on the death of his maternal uncle, William Davidson, who had died without an heir, Thomas inherited the mansion and estate of

Muirhouse Muirhouse is a housing estate in the north of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Location The housing estate of Muirhouse (Pennywell and Muirhouse) is bounded by Muirhouse Parkway to the North, Pennywell Road to the East, Ferry Road to the So ...

just north of Edinburgh, and viewing over the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is a firth in Scotland, an inlet of the North Sea that separates Fife to its north and Lothian to its south. Further inland, it becomes the estuary of the River Forth and several other rivers. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate ...

. Apart from this "country house" he also had a town house at 87

Princes Street Princes Street () is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (three quar ...

, a newly finished house in Edinburgh's First New Town. Over and above his Muirhouse estate he owned the estate of Old Barony in Hatton and a fine Edinburgh townhouse at 8

Heriot Row Heriot Row is a highly prestigious street in central Edinburgh, virtually unchanged since its original construction in 1802. From its inception to the present day in remained a top address in the city and has housed the rich and famous of the ci ...

. The author

Henry Mackenzie Henry Mackenzie FRSE (August 1745 – 14 January 1831, born and died in Edinburgh) was a Scottish lawyer, novelist and writer sometimes seen as the Addison of the North. While remembered mostly as an author, his main income came from legal ro ...

was a close neighbour. He died at Muirhouse on 25 October 1827. His funeral service in St Giles was overseen by Rev George Muirhead. He was buried on 28 October. He was the final minister of Tolbooth parish as contained in St Giles and after his death it moved to a purpose built Tolbooth Church on Castlehill to the west.

Family

In January 1772 he married Christian Rutherford (d.1797) daughter of John Rutherford of Edgerston. Their children included: *Sarah Randall (d.1773) *Mary Randall (d.1776) *William Randall (1783-1865) later known as William Davidson of Muirhouse Following Christian's death in 1797, in August 1798 he married Elizabeth Cockburn (1770-1850), daughter of Archibald Cockburn, Baron of the Exchequer, and sister of

Henry Cockburn, Lord Cockburn Henry Thomas Cockburn of Bonaly, Lord Cockburn ( ; 26 October 1779 in Cockpen, Midlothian – 26 April/18 July 1854 in Bonaly, Midlothian) was a Scottish lawyer, judge and literary figure. He served as Solicitor General for Scotland between 183 ...

. She was 23 years his junior. Their children included: *Jane Davidson (b.1800) *Elizabeth Davidson (b.1802) *Thomas (1803-1811) *Archibald Davidson (1805-1886) Sheriff of Lothian *David Davidson (1808-1891) Treasurer of the

Bank of Scotland The Bank of Scotland plc (Scottish Gaelic: ''Banca na h-Alba'') is a commercial bank, commercial and clearing (finance), clearing bank based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group. The bank was established by the Par ...

*Henry Davidson (1811-1889) father of

Randall Davidson Randall Thomas Davidson, 1st Baron Davidson of Lambeth, (7 April 1848 – 25 May 1930) was an Anglican bishop who was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1903 to 1928. He was the longest-serving holder of the office since the English Reformation, Re ...

the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

Publications

*A Sketch of the Character of Dr John Erskine (1803)

References

Citations

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Thomas Randall 1747 births 1827 deaths Leiden University alumni Ministers of St Giles' Cathedral Scottish landowners