Archibald Hamilton Charteris (13 December 1835 – 24 April 1908) was a Scottish theologian, a

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the ministers and elders of the Church of Scotland, minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week i ...

, professor of

biblical criticism Biblical criticism is the use of critical analysis to understand and explain the Bible. During the eighteenth century, when it began as ''historical-biblical criticism,'' it was based on two distinguishing characteristics: (1) the concern to ...

at the University of Edinburgh and a leading voice in Church reforms. He is credited as being the father of the

Woman's Guild The Church of Scotland Guild or simply The Guild (formerly known as the Woman's Guild), is a movement within the Church of Scotland. Historically it was, and often in practice it is, an exclusively woman's movement. It has groups, organised at a ...

and founder of "Life and Work" magazine.

Life

He was born in Wamphray,Obituary of Matthew Charteris, BMJ, July 1897 Dumfriesshire, the eldest son of John Charteris (1803Formatting correction.1871), the parish schoolmasterLife and Work, May 1908, obituary and his wife, Jean Hamilton (1809-1886), daughter of Archibald Hamilton a farmer at Broomhills. Charteris studied Divinity at the University of Edinburgh graduating MA in 1854 and then did postgraduate studies in both Tubingen and

Bonn University The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...

in Germany. In 1858 he was ordained a parish minister of

St Quivox St Quivox is a small Scottish village north of Ayr and east of Prestwick. It lies on the B7035 east of the A77. History The uniquely named village is said to be a corruption either of St Kevoca, St Kevoch or St Kennocha. It is thought to have bee ...

in Ayrshire in place of Rev Stair Park McQuhae, his patron being Alexander Haldane Oswald of

Auchincruive Auchincruive is a former country house and estate in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is located east of Ayr, on the north bank of the River Ayr. Auchincruive House was built in the 18th century on the site of an earlier mansion. In 1927, the estate ...

House. In 1859 he translated to New Abbey in Galloway and then Glasgow. In 1868 he became Professor of Biblical Criticism at the University of Edinburgh, until his retirement due to ill health in 1898. He was moderator of the General Assembly in 1892 and founded Edinburgh's Deaconess Hospital in 1894. Charteris also led the foundation of the St Ninian's Mission next to the Deaconess Hospital on Pleasance in 1891. In 1913, the attached mission church was named Charteris Memorial in his memory. Since 2016, the complex has been known as the

Greyfriars Charteris Centre The Greyfriars Charteris Centre is a community centre in the Southside, Edinburgh, Scotland, part of the mission of Greyfriars Kirk. The centre opened in 2016 and occupies the 20th century church buildings which became Kirk o' Field Parish Churc ...

in his memory. He was appointed a Chaplain-in-Ordinary in Scotland to King Edward VII in October 1901. Charteris was a conservative Biblical scholar, and a mild Calvinist. In April 1875, he was accused of writing an anonymous review in the Edinburgh Evening Courant of William Robertson Smith's article on the Bible in the Encyclopædia Britannica. His criticism led indirectly to Robertson Smith's trial for heresy in the

Free Church of Scotland Free Church of Scotland may refer to: * Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900), seceded in 1843 from the Church of Scotland. The majority merged in 1900 into the United Free Church of Scotland; historical * Free Church of Scotland (since 1900), rema ...

. However, it was perhaps as a churchman that Charteris exercised his greatest influence. He was instrumental in initiating the Church's

Committee of Christian Life and Work A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

in 1869. He founded the magazine '' Life and Work'' in 1879, and began the

Young Men's Guild Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one is young, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an American roc ...

and the Woman's Guild. He also was a leading proponent of the restoration of the office of Deaconess within the Church. In 1887 he founded the Church of Scotland's Woman's Guild. In 1880 he passed the editorship of ''Life and Work'' to Rev John McMurtrie. In 1900-1901 he is listed as living in Cameron House on Dalkeith Road (now part of Edinburgh University's Pollock Halls of Residence). He died on the afternoon of Friday 24 April 1908. He is buried with his parents in his home town of Wamphray.

Family

His brother was

Matthew Charteris Matthew Charteris MD FRSE LRCSE (1840 – July 1897). He was a Scottish physician and academic who was the Regius Professor of Materia Medica at the University of Glasgow. He was also the author of the standard medical textbook the ''Practice ...

, Regius Professor of Materia Medica and Therapeutics at Glasgow University. His wife was the philanthropist

Catherine Charteris Catherine "Katie" Charteris born Catherine Anderson (1837 – 18 November 1918) was a British philanthropist. Life She was born in 1837 in Aberdeen. Her parents were Rachel, born Johnston, and Alexander Anderson who was the Lord Provost of Aberd ...

, daughter of Sir Alexander Anderson (advocate and Lord Provost of Aberdeen). They married on 18 November 1863 in Aberdeen, but had no children.

Sources

''Dictionary of Scottish Church History and Theology'' Wright, D.F. ''et al.'' (eds) Edinburgh 1993 {{DEFAULTSORT:Charteris, Archibald 19th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 1835 births 1908 deaths Scottish Calvinist and Reformed theologians Academics of the University of Edinburgh People from Dumfries and Galloway Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British biblical scholars Scottish literary critics