George Alexander Frank Knight

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(1869–1937) was a Scottish minister, author and advocate of the

Temperance Movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

. In literature he is usually referred to as G. A. Frank Knight.

Life

He was born in the Free Church manse in

Dollar, Clackmannanshire Dollar ( gd, Dolair) is a small town with a population of 2,800 people in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. It is east of Stirling. Toponymy Possible interpretations are that Dollar is derived from ''Doilleir'', an Irish and Scots Gaelic word mean ...

, in 1869, the son of Rev George Halley Knight and his wife Marianne Sommerville, and grandson of the Rev George Fulton Knight and nephew of the Rev

William Angus Knight William Angus Knight (22 February 1836 – 4 March 1916) was a Scottish Free Church minister and author and Professor of Moral Philosophy at St Andrews University. He created the Lady Literate in Arts qualification. Life He was born in the ma ...

.Ewing, William ''Annals of the Free Church'' He was educated at

Dollar Academy Dollar Academy, founded in 1818 by John McNabb, is an independent co-educational day and boarding school in Scotland. The open campus occupies a site in the centre of Dollar, Clackmannanshire, at the foot of the Ochil Hills. Overview As of 20 ...

. He then studied at

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

and

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

graduating MA before studying Divinity at the Free Church College in Glasgow. He began preaching at the Free Church of Scotland in

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 ...

around 1892. In 1900, on the creation of the

United Free Church of Scotland The United Free Church of Scotland (UF Church; gd, An Eaglais Shaor Aonaichte, sco, The Unitit Free Kirk o Scotland) is a Scottish Presbyterian denomination formed in 1900 by the union of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland (or UP) and ...

he moved to St Leonards-in-the-Fields Church,

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. He was elected a fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

in 1901. His proposers were

Malcolm Laurie Malcolm Laurie FRSE FLS (27 February 1866 – 16 July 1932) was a Scottish zoologist and palaeontologist. Biography He was born in Brunstane House south of Portobello, Edinburgh on 27 February 1866, the son of Simon Somerville Laurie an ...

Robert Kidston Dr Robert Kidston, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS FRSE LLD (29 June 1852 – 13 July 1924) was a Scottish botanist and palaeobotanist. Life He was born in Bishopton House in Renfrewshire on 29 June 1852 the youngest of twelve children of Robe ...

William Evans Hoyle Dr William Evans Hoyle FRSE (28 January 1855 – 7 February 1926) was a noted British zoologist. A specialist in deep sea creatures he worked on classification and illustrations from the Challenger Expedition from 1882 to 1888. Life Hoyle ...

and

John Gray McKendrick John Gray McKendrick FRS FRSE FRCPE LLD (12 August 1841 – 2 January 1926) was a distinguished Scottish physiologist. He was born and studied in Aberdeen, Scotland, and served as Regius Professor of Physiology at the University of Glasgow fr ...

. In 1907 he was living at 9 St Leonards Bank on the South Inch in Perth. In 1914 succeeded Rev Dr Reith at Kelvingrove United Free Church. He was then living at 52 Sardinia Terrace in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. In 1928 he took on the role of general secretary to the National Bible Society of Scotland. He died suddenly on 2 May 1937.

Family

He married Annie Baillie Adamson, daughter of Rev Thomas Adamson of the Free Church of Scotland. His namesake grandson, generally known as G. A. F. Knight in literature, was also a Biblical scholar and served as the moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand in 1974.

Publications

*''The Marine Mollusca of Port Stewart, Northern Ireland'' (1901) *''Greatheart'' (1914) *''Nile and Jordan'' (1921) *''Archaeological Light on the Early Christianizing of Scotland'' (1933)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, George Alexander Frank 1869 births 1937 deaths Scottish non-fiction writers Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh People educated at Dollar Academy People from Dollar, Clackmannanshire Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Alumni of the University of Glasgow Scottish temperance activists 19th-century Ministers of the Free Church of Scotland 20th-century Ministers of the Free Church of Scotland