Rev-dr-william-king-tweedie-1803-1863-of-the-tolbo

William King Tweedie (1803–1863) was an historian, biographer and a 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 ...

Tolbooth Church, Edinburgh.

Life

He was born in

Ayr Ayr ( ; ; , meaning "confluence of the River Àir"), is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. A former royal burgh, today it is the administrative centre of South Ayrshire Council, and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With ...

on 8 May 1803 to John Tweedie and Janet King. His parents moved to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

in South America while William was young and he was left in the care of an aunt in

Maybole Maybole (, ) is a town and former burgh of barony and police burgh in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It had an estimated population of in . It is situated south of Ayr and southwest of Glasgow by the Glasgow and South Western Railway. The town is ...

. He never saw his parents again, and was effectively abandoned. He studied Divinity at

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 ...

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 ...

and

St Andrews University The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, following the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, t ...

. He was licensed to preach as a minister of 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 ...

by the Presbytery of

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the Subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland, Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast, some east-northeast of ...

in 1828. He was ordained as minister of the Scots Church at

London Wall The London Wall is a defensive wall first built by the Ancient Rome, Romans around the strategically important port town of Londinium in AD 200, as well as the name of a #modern, modern street in the City of London, England. Roman London was ...

in 1832. In 1836, Tweedie was appointed minister of

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 ...

South Parish and later in 1842, the Tolbooth Church in Edinburgh, replacing Rev.

Thomas Randall Davidson Thomas Randall Davidson (1747–1827) was a Church of Scotland minister and landowner. Life He was born Thomas Randall in July 1747, the son of Rev Thomas Randall (b.1710), minister of Inchture west of Dundee. Early education was at least i ...

. The Tolbooth Church, designed by

James Gillespie Graham James Gillespie Graham (11 June 1776 – 21 March 1855) was a Scottish architect, prominent in the early 19th century. Much of his work was Scottish baronial in style. A prominent example is Ayton Castle. He also worked in the Gothic Revival ...

and Pugin, had recently been completed. He left the established church 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 ...

and was thereafter a minister of the Free Church of Scotland. Leaving with a large portion of the Tolbooth parish congregation, they purchased the pre-existing Secession Church on Infirmary Street. He lived at 50

George Square, Edinburgh George Square () is a city square in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is in the south of the city centre, adjacent to the Meadows. It was laid out in 1766 outside the overcrowded Old Town, and was a popular residential area for Edinburgh's better-off c ...

. From 1848 to 1862, he was Convenor of the Foreign Mission Committee of the Free Church. He was awarded 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 1852. He moved to 3 Fingal Place in the Grange around 1845 but returned to George Square in later life.Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1863 The church sold the Infirmary Street church in 1851 and used temporary accommodation until a new church was built circa 1855: a very modest hall on the rear garden of an unfinished Georgian house on the north side of St Andrew Square.Ewings Annals of the Free Church: Congregations He died at 15

on 24 March 1863. He was 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 ...

in south Edinburgh. The grave lies on the outer north wall.

Family

On 11 May 1835, he married Margaret Bell (1803-3 March 1885) in London. She was daughter of Hugh Bell, of Old Garphar,

Straiton Straiton is a village on the River Girvan in South Ayrshire in Scotland. It lies in the hills between Kirkmichael, Dalmellington, Crosshill, and Maybole. Straiton was mainly built in the 18th century to house mill workers and weavers workin ...

, Ayrshire, and had five children. Their children included: * Major General William Tweedie of Lettrick (31 October 1836 - 18 September 1914). Major-General, C.S.I., served in Indian Mutiny

Sepoy mutiny The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the form ...

, held numerous military and political appointments in India, Political Resident in Turkish Arabia, and H.M. Consul-General at Baghdad. * John Tweedie (1838-1897) of the

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

Civil Service born 30 July 1838 - died 3 May 1897 * Maria Meredith Tweedie (born 20 May 1841) * Margaret Bell Tweedie (4 November 1843) * Jessie Ann Tweedie (born 17 September 1845)

Publications

*''Life of Rev John MacDonald, India'' *''Calvin and Servetus'' *''Lights and Shadows of the Life of Faith'' *''Jerusalem and its Environs'' *''Ruined Cities of the East'' *''Fifteen Years of Foreign Missions'' *''The Life and Work of Earnest Men'' *''The Sacrament of Baptism'' *''Seed Time and Harvest: or Sow Well and Reap Well. A Book for the Young. Preface by H. L. Hastings'' *''Home: A Book for the Family'' *''Pathways of Many Pilgrims; or, Lights and Shadows in the Christian Life'' *''Glad Tidings; or the Gospel of Peace. A series of meditations for Christian Disciples. Preface by H. L. Hastings'' *''A Lamp to the Path: or the Word of God in the Heart, the Home, the Workshop and the Market-place. Introduction by H. L. Hastings'' *''Of the Free Tolbooth Church, Edinburgh''

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * *

External links

Collections in The National Archives
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tweedie, William King 1803 births 1863 deaths 19th-century ministers of the Free Church of Scotland 19th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers Scottish religious writers Scottish biographers 19th-century Scottish historians Burials at the Grange Cemetery 19th-century ministers of the Church of Scotland