David Freebairn, M.A. (1653–1739) was a Scottish clergyman who served as a minister in the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

, before becoming a

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

in the

Scottish Episcopal Church The Scottish Episcopal Church ( gd, Eaglais Easbaigeach na h-Alba; sco, Scots Episcopal(ian) Kirk) is the ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion in Scotland. A continuation of the Church of Scotland as intended by King James VI, and ...

, and in which he was

Bishop of Galloway The Bishop of Galloway, also called the Bishop of Whithorn, was the eccesiastical head of the Diocese of Galloway, said to have been founded by Saint Ninian in the mid-5th century. The subsequent Anglo-Saxon bishopric was founded in the late 7th ...

(1731–1733),

Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church The Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, styled "The Most Reverend the Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church", is the presiding bishop of the Scottish Episcopal Church. The current Primus is the Most Revd. Mark Strange who became primus on ...

(1731–1738) and

Bishop of Edinburgh The Bishop of Edinburgh, or sometimes the Lord Bishop of Edinburgh is the ordinary of the Scottish Episcopal Diocese of Edinburgh. Prior to the Reformation, Edinburgh was part of the Diocese of St Andrews, under the Archbishop of St Andrews ...

(1733–1739).

Early life and family

He was born in 1653, the son of the Reverend Robert Freebairn,

Incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an official, office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seek ...

of Gask,

Perthshire Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...

., ''Scottish Episcopal Clergy'', pp. 45–46., ''Fasti Ecclesae Scoticanae, volume 4'', p. 269. He was educated at the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

, obtaining a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree on 23 July 1672. He married twice, firstly to Jean Graham (died July 1697) and secondly in 1699 to Anna Dobie, daughter of Richard Dobie (brother of Sir Robert Dobie of Stanihill). By his first wife, he had three sons and one daughter.

Ecclesiastical career

He was recommended for licence to minister by Church of Scotland Presbytery of St Andews on 24 June 1675. His first ecclesiastical appointment was as an assistant minister at Gask,

(1676–1680), followed by as the

Auchterarder Auchterarder (; gd, Uachdar Àrdair, meaning Upper Highland) is a small town located north of the Ochil Hills in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, and home to the Gleneagles Hotel. The High Street of Auchterarder gave the town its popular name of "Th ...

(1680–1686), and then the Incumbent of Dunning (1686–1691). He came under a sentence of deprivation from the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

, dated 4 September 1689, for not reading the Proclamation of the Estates, not praying for

William III William III or William the Third may refer to: Kings * William III of Sicily (c. 1186–c. 1198) * William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702) * William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg ...

and

Mary II Mary II (30 April 166228 December 1694) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, co-reigning with her husband, William III & II, from 1689 until her death in 1694. Mary was the eldest daughter of James, Duke of York, and his first wife ...

, etc. He retired to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

in 1691, where he became a bookseller, but returned to the

ministry Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

in the Scottish Episcopal Church and set up a

meeting house A meeting house (meetinghouse, meeting-house) is a building where religious and sometimes public meetings take place. Terminology Nonconformist Protestant denominations distinguish between a * church, which is a body of people who believe in Chr ...

in Bailie Fyfe's Close. He was one of the seventeen Edinburgh clergy who in 1708 were summoned before the Lords of Judiciary for exercising their ministerial functions in the city, and they were ordered on 13 March 1708 ''"to desist from keeping any Meeting House within the City of Edinburgh,

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

, and

Canongate The Canongate is a street and associated district in central Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The street forms the main eastern length of the Royal Mile while the district is the main eastern section of Edinburgh's Old Town. It began ...

, etc."'' He was prosecuted with other Edinburgh clergy in 1716 by order of the

Commission of Justiciary {{not to be confused, Justiciar A commission of justiciary was a method of law enforcement employed in Scotland, in particular in the 16th and 17th centuries. In an era when the practical reach of central government was limited, the issuing auth ...

for not praying for King George I, but was assoilzied. He was one of the Edinburgh clergy who met in March 1720 to elect Bishop Rose's successor. He was consecrated a

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

bishop at Edinburgh on 17 October 1722 by Primus

Fullarton Fullarton is a small area in Irvine, North Ayrshire. It is situated close to Irvine Bay and is next to several industrial estates, large supermarkets and retail stores and the town centre itself. Stagecoach Western buses operate the local bus s ...

and Bishops Millar and

Irvine Irvine may refer to: Places On Earth Antarctica *Irvine Glacier *Mount Irvine (Antarctica) Australia *Irvine Island *Mount Irvine, New South Wales Canada *Irvine, Alberta * Irvine Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom *Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotla ...

. He and other

college bishop In the early days of the Scottish Episcopal Church, college bishops were men who were consecrated bishops in order to maintain apostolic succession but (extraordinarily) not appointed to any episcopal see An episcopal see is, in a practical u ...

s were consecrated to maintain the

Episcopal succession The historic or historical episcopate comprises all episcopates, that is, it is the collective body of all the bishops of a church who are in valid apostolic succession. This succession is transmitted from each bishop to their successors by the r ...

without being committed to a particular

Episcopal see An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...

. Nine years later, he became the

and Primus in December 1731. He was

translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

from Galloway to

on 28 June 1733, but continued as Primus until deprived of that office in July 1738. He remained as Bishop of Edinburgh until his death on 24 December 1739, aged 86.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Freebairn, David 1653 births 1739 deaths Bishops of Galloway (Church of Scotland) Bishops of Edinburgh 17th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland Primuses of the Scottish Episcopal Church College bishops 18th-century Scottish Episcopalian bishops