George Hamilton of Cairns (1635–1712) was a Church of Scotland minister who served as Moderator of the General Assembly in 1699.

Life

He was born in the

manse A manse () is a clergy house inhabited by, or formerly inhabited by, a minister, usually used in the context of Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist and other Christian traditions. Ultimately derived from the Latin ''mansus'', "dwelling", from '' ...

at Pittenweem in 1635 the eldest son of Rev. George Hamilton (d. 1673), the local minister. His father apparently translated to

Newburn, Fife Newburn is a civil parish in the County of Fife in Scotland. It is located on the north coast of the Firth of Forth and bounded by the parishes of Kilconquhar and Largo. It was originally a rural parish with no major settlement, but with the d ...

in 1636 and in 1637 appears with Alexander Henderson of Leuchars and James Bruce of

Kingsbarns Kingsbarns is a village and parish in Scotland lies near the eastern coast of Fife, in an area known as the East Neuk, southeast of St Andrews and north of Crail. The name derives from the area being the location of the barns used to store ...

as three Fife ministers petitioning regarding the changes in the Book of Common Prayer. He studied at St Andrews University from 1649 graduating MA in 1653. In 1659 he was he ordained as a minister of the Church of Scotland, his first charge being Newburn in south

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

close to his birthplace. In the troubled times of the 1660s he was deprived of office in 1662 due to the Stuart Restoration. He then disappears from public record for around 30 years, and probably survived through teaching as a private tutor in Fife. Following the

Glorious Revolution in Scotland The Glorious Revolution in Scotland refers to the Scottish element of the 1688 Glorious Revolution, in which James VII was replaced by his daughter Mary II and her husband William III of Orange, William II as joint monarchs of Kingdom of Scotla ...

he was reallowed to preach in 1690 but his role at Newburn did not become open until 1692. In February 1696 he translated to be minister of St Leonard's Parish in

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fou ...

and also then became Principal of St Leonard's College there.''Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae''; by Hew Scott In 1697 he translated to be minister of the High Church (St Giles) in Edinburgh. In January 1699 he was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, in place of Rev. George Meldrum. He ceased preaching in January 1710 and appears to have stood unsuccessfully as a candidate as MP for Pittenweem against Sir John Anstruther. He died on 26 May 1712.

Family

He firstly married Margaret Boyd, daughter of John Boyd of Trochrig. They had two daughters: Margaret Hamilton who married Rev. Robert Clelland of Kilrenny (near Pittenweem) and Sophia Hamilton who married Thomas Spence, an Edinburgh lawyer. He secondly married Elizabeth Hay (d. 1708), sister of Dr. John Hay of

Cousland Cousland is a village in Midlothian, Scotland. It is located east of Dalkeith and west of Ormiston, on a hill between the Rivers Tyne and Esk. History Cousland was a possession of the Sinclair family of Roslin from the late 12th century, and ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, George 1635 births 1712 deaths People from Pittenweem Alumni of the University of St Andrews Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 17th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland 17th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers 18th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland 18th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers