George Carstairs (1880–1948) was a
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 ...
minister and missionary in India. In later life he was editor of ''
Life and Work''.
Life
He was born 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 ...
on 11 February 1880, the son of the Rev. George Lindley Carstairs of the
United Presbyterian Church, ordained in 1871; and a younger brother of the accountant Alexander Morrison Carstairs (died 1943). In 1883, his father with David Corsar travelled to South Africa to report on the Church's missions there. He was educated at Albany Academy, and graduated M.A. from
Glasgow University
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, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
in 1901.
Joining the Rajputana Mission established in the 1860s, geographically roughly corresponding to the modern Indian state of
Rajasthan
Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...
, Carstairs came under the Foreign Mission Committee of the Church of Scotland.
He was appointed to
Alwar
Alwar (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Hindi and Urdu, ™lʋəɾ is a city located in India's National Capital Region (India), National Capital Region and the administrative headquarters of Alwar district, Alwar District in the state of Rajasthan. ...
in 1907, where he was an educational reformed in the mission school. In 1924, Carstairs addressed
Girl Guides
Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 when girls requested to join the then-grassroot ...
from
Nasirabad. In 1927, in the Glasgow University records, he was B.D. and resident in
Beawar
Beawar () is a city in Ajmer district of Rajasthan, India. Beawar was the financial capital of Merwara state of Rajputana. As of 2011, the population of Beawar is 342,935. It is located 70 kilometres from Ajmer, the district headquarters and ...
. He took part in the mission for around 30 years, with a break at the end of the 1920s.
Back in Scotland, in Edinburgh Carstairs resided at 22 Braid Crescent. He edited ''Life and Work'', the Church of Scotland magazine.
He also became a staff correspondent for ''
The Christian Century
''The Christian Century'' is a Christian magazine based in Chicago, Illinois. Considered the flagship magazine of US mainline Protestantism, the monthly reports on religious news; comments on theological, moral, and cultural issues; and reviews ...
''. He died on 26 April 1948.
Awards and honours
Carstairs was awarded a
D.D.
A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity.
In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...
by Glasgow University in 1935,
and the
Kaisar-i-Hind Medal
The Kaisar-i-Hind Medal for Public Service in India was a medal awarded by the Emperor/Empress of India between 1900 and 1947, to "any person without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex ... who shall have distinguished himself (o ...
.
Works
*''Shepherd of Udaipur and the Land He Loved'' (1926), biography of
James Shepherd. Shepherd was head of the medical mission in
Udaipur State
Kingdom of Mewar, sometimes known as Udaipur State, was ruled by the Sisodia dynasty. It was an independent kingdom in Rajputana region of India. It was established around the 7th century as minor rulers of the Nagada-Ahar region of Udaipur an ...
from 1877.
*''The Hindu: A Brief Sketch of the Social & Religious Progress of India'' (1929)
Family
Carstairs married Elizabeth Huntley Young.
Their children included:
*Charles Young Carstairs (1910–1993), civil servant in the Colonial Office.
*Andrew McLaren Carstairs (1914–1990), historian.
*
George Morrison Carstairs (1916–1991), born in
Mussoorie
Mussoorie is a hill station and a municipal board, near Dehradun city in the Dehradun district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is about from the state capital of Dehradun and north of the national capital of New Delhi. The hill st ...
.
Elizabeth was sister to the Rev. R. C. Young of Jamaica. This was the Presbyterian missionary to Jamaica, Robert Comingo Young (1882–1946), a graduate of Glasgow University in 1903 (middle name given as Comings).
He arrived in the
Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the ...
in 1908 from Scotland, where he married Olga Parsons, a local woman, before moving to Jamaica around 1913; the art historian
Andrew McLaren Young was their son.
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carstairs, George
1880 births
1948 deaths
20th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland
Scottish Presbyterian missionaries
Presbyterian missionaries in India