Alexander Cairncross (1637–1701) was

Archbishop of Glasgow The Archbishop of Glasgow is an archiepiscopal title that takes its name after the city of Glasgow in Scotland. The position and title were abolished by the Church of Scotland in 1689; and, in the Scottish Episcopal Church, it is now part of ...

1684–1687.

Life

Alexander Cairncross was descended from the ancient family of Cairncross of Cowmull. For some time he followed the trade of a dyer in the Canongate of

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. Subsequently, he became

parson A parson is an ordained Christian person responsible for a small area, typically a parish. The term was formerly often used for some Anglican clergy and, more rarely, for ordained ministers in some other churches. It is no longer a formal term ...

of Dumfries, where he remained until 1684 when, by the recommendation of the

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, he was promoted to the see of Brechin, from which he was in a few months promoted to that of

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. Having incurred the displeasure of the

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, the Earl of Perth, he was in January 1687 removed from the see, but after the Glorious Revolution he obtained the notice of the new powers, and in 1693 was made

Bishop of Raphoe The Bishop of Raphoe ( ) is an episcopal title which takes its name after the town of Raphoe in County Donegal, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with another bis ...

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, where he remained until his death on 14 May 1701. By will he left a great deal of money to the poor of the parish of Raphoe, and the tenth part of his personal estate to the episcopal clergy of the

Kingdom of Scotland The Kingdom of Scotland (; , ) was a sovereign state in northwest Europe traditionally said to have been founded in 843. Its territories expanded and shrank, but it came to occupy the northern third of the island of Great Britain, sharing a l ...

. He was buried in the Cathedral of Raphoe.

References

* ''Registrum Episcopatus Brechinensis'' (

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, 1856), p. 141 (App.) 79 * Keith's Scottish Bishops (Russell), 168, 268–9 * Ware's Works (Harris), i. 277. ;Attribution 1637 births 1701 deaths Bishops of Glasgow Bishops of Brechin (Church of Scotland) Chancellors of the University of Glasgow Anglican bishops of Raphoe Scottish Restoration bishops Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1685–1686 {{UK-bishop-stub