Walter Ross Taylor (1805–1896) was a Scottish minister of the

Free Church of Scotland In contemporary usage, the Free Church of Scotland usually refers to: * Free Church of Scotland (since 1900), that portion of the original Free Church which remained outside the 1900 merger; extant It may also refer to: * Free Church of Scotland (1 ...

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 ...

1884/85.

Life

He was born in

Tain Tain ( ) is a royal burgh and parish in the County of Ross, in the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. Etymology The name derives from the nearby River Tain, the name of which comes from an Indo-European root meaning 'flow'. The Gaelic n ...

in northern Scotland on 11 November 1805 the son of the sheriff clerk of

Cromarty Cromarty (; , ) is a town, civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish and former royal burgh in Ross and Cromarty, in the Highland (council area), Highland area of Scotland. Situated at the tip of the Black Isle on the southern shore of the mout ...

. His mother Flora Ross was sister of Col Walter Ross of Nigg House and inherited the house on his death. The house held feudal superiority over the village of Nigg. Walter was educated at the Royal Academy in Tain then from 1819 studied at

King's College, Aberdeen King's College in Old Aberdeen, Scotland, the full title of which is The University and King's College of Aberdeen (''Collegium Regium Aberdonense''), is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and now an integral part of the Univer ...

winning the Hutton Prize as best 4th year student. He then studied to be a minister at the Divinity Hall 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 ...

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

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 ...

to train as a minister for 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 ...

. He was ordained at Chadwell Street Church in

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1829. In 1831 he became minister of

Old Saint Peter's Old St. Peter's Basilica was the church buildings that stood, from the 4th to 16th centuries, where St. Peter's Basilica stands today in Vatican City. Construction of the basilica, built over the historical site of the Circus of Nero, began duri ...

Thurso Thurso (pronounced ; , ) is a town and former burgh on the north coast of the Highland council area of Scotland. Situated in the historical County of Caithness, it is the northernmost town on the island of Great Britain. From a latitudinal s ...

. In 1832, the new parish church (pictured) was consecrated. 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 ...

he left the established church to join the Free Church of Scotland. A large part of his congregation left with him. A new church was built almost immediately. A new manse was built in 1850. The church was rebuilt in 1875. In 1884 he succeeded Rev

Horatius Bonar Horatius Bonar (; 19 December 180831 July 1889) was a Scottish churchman and poet who was a contemporary and acquaintance of Robert Murray M'cheyne. He is principally remembered as a prodigious hymnodist. Friends knew him as Horace Bo ...

. He was succeeded in turn in 1885 by Rev David Brown. From 1894 he was assisted by Rev George Herbert Morrison. He died on 5 October 1896 aged 90 and Morrison then took his place, building the Thurso Mission Hall soon thereafter. The Thurso church was replaced in the 1970s by a new building.

Works

*The Reception of the Gospel and a Conversation becoming It, a sermon (London, 1830) *Last Sermon Preached in the Old Church of Thurso (Thurso, 1832, 1833, and 1841) *Assembly Addresses (p.p., n.p., 1884) *Sermon on Psalm LXXXV., 10 (p.p.) *Account of the Parish (New Statistical Account, xv.) *Sermon XLIV. (Free Church Pulpit, i.) *Sermons and Assembly Addresses in Memorials of Caithness Ministers.

Family

He was twice married. His first wife was Isabella Murray, daughter of William Murray of Pitcalzean, whom he married in 1833. Their only son out of five children was Rev

Walter Ross Taylor (1838–1907) Walter Ross Taylor (1838–1907) was a Scottish minister of the Free Church of Scotland who served as Moderator of the General Assembly in the critical year of Union in 1900. From 1900 he led the United Free Church of Scotland with its Mod ...

who was father in turn to

Walter Ross-Taylor Walter Ross-Taylor (7 July 1877 – 12 July 1958) was a Scottish Conservative Party politician and civil servant. Life He was born in the manse at Thurso the son of the Rev Walter Ross Taylor (1838-1907), a prominent Free Church of Scotland ...

MP. His son Walter was Moderator in 1900 and oversaw the critical Union with the

United Presbyterian Church of Scotland The United Presbyterian Church (1847–1900) was a Scottish Presbyterian denomination. It was formed in 1847 by the union of the United Secession Church and the Relief Church, and in 1900 merged with the Free Church of Scotland to form the U ...

. He married: *(1) 9 May 1833, Isobel (died March 1884), second daughter of William Murray of Pitcalzean, Ross, and sister of William Murray of Geanies, and had issue — **Christina Barbara Ross, born 28 July 1834 (married 1857, Alexander Auld, minister of Free Church, Olrig) **Flora Ross, born 14 May 1836 (married F. R. Johnstone) **Walter Ross, D.D., minister of Kelvinside United Free Church, Glasgow, Moderator of the Free Church General Assembly in 1900, born 11 April 1838, died 6 December 1907 **Esther Murray, born 13 June 1841 (married Alexander Middleton, Rose Farm, Invergordon) **Jemima Alexa, born 11 March 1843 (married Provost William Mackay, Thurso) *(2) 23 March 1887, (aged 82), Isabella (born 25 October 1843, died 6 April 1928), daughter of William Macdonald, Pennyland, Thurso.

References

Citations

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Walter Ross 1805 births 1896 deaths People from Tain People from Ross and Cromarty 19th-century ministers of the Free Church of Scotland 19th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers