George Muirhead (1764–1847) was a Scottish minister of 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 Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...

who joined the Free Church of Scotland in his final years and was one of their senior ministers.

Life

Dysart - Old House and Church Tower 1852

He was born in the manse at

Dysart, Fife Dysart ( ; gd, Dìseart) is a former town and royal burgh located on the south-east coast between Kirkcaldy and West Wemyss in Fife. The town is now considered to be a suburb of Kirkcaldy. Dysart was once part of a wider estate owned by the St ...

in 1764 the second son of Patrick Muirhead, the parish minister, in a family of at least nine children. The church was remodelled in 1801 by Alexander Laing. He studied at

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 , ...

then at Divinity Hall in

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

. He was ordained by the

in 1788 and was made second in charge at Dysart as assistant to his father. In 1811 he replaced has father as first in charge. In 1816 he was translated to

Cramond Kirk Cramond Kirk is a church situated in the middle area Cramond parish, in the north west of Edinburgh, Scotland. Built on the site of an old Roman fort, parts of the Cramond Kirk building date back to the fourteenth century and the church tower is ...

on the north edge of

replacing Rev Archibald Bonar. In 1820 he is listed as a Governor of the Edinburgh Orphan Hospital. In 1828 he commissioned the Edinburgh architect

William Burn William Burn (20 December 1789 – 15 February 1870) was a Scottish architect. He received major commissions from the age of 20 until his death at 81. He built in many styles and was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial Revival,often referred ...

to remodel the church interior. In the

Disruption of 1843 The Disruption of 1843, also known as the Great Disruption, was a schism in 1843 in which 450 evangelical ministers broke away from the Church of Scotland to form the Free Church of Scotland. The main conflict was over whether the Church of S ...

he left the established church and joined the

Free Church A free church is a Christian denomination that is intrinsically separate from government (as opposed to a state church). A free church does not define government policy, and a free church does not accept church theology or policy definitions fr ...

. As the oldest minister then present he was permitted to be the second to sign the Act of separation and Deed of Demission, immediately after the first signature of

Thomas Chalmers Thomas Chalmers (17 March 178031 May 1847), was a Scottish minister, professor of theology, political economist, and a leader of both the Church of Scotland and of the Free Church of Scotland. He has been called "Scotland's greatest nine ...

. Muirhead commissioned

David Cousin David Cousin (19 May 1809 – 14 August 1878) was a Scottish architect, landscape architect and planner, closely associated with early cemetery design and many prominent buildings in Edinburgh. From 1841 to 1872 he operated as Edinburgh’s ...

immediately to design a new Cramond Free Church. This was sited to the south in

Davidsons Mains Davidson's Mains is a former village and now a district in the north-west of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is adjacent to the districts of Barnton, Edinburgh, Barnton, Cramond, Silverknowes, Blackhall, Edinburgh, Blackhall and Corbiehill/House O'Hill ...

. The Free Church met in the old schoolhouse at

. Muirhead preached until 1844 when he was replaced by Rev Alexander Campbell Fraser. A new church was rapidly built for the Free Church, also in Davidsons Mains and opened in December 1843. As the Free Church manse was not erected until 1857 it is unclear if Muirhead continued to live at Cramond manse. He died in Cramond in 1847. He is buried in Cramond churchyard.

Artistic recognition

He was photographed by

Hill & Adamson Hill & Adamson was the first photography studio in Scotland, set up by painter David Octavius Hill and engineer Robert Adamson in 1843. During their brief partnership that ended with Adamson's untimely death, Hill & Adamson produced "the first s ...

in 1844.

Family

In 1807 he married Maxwell Fleming (sic) (d.1854) daughter of Rev Dr Thomas Fleming DD of Lady Yester's Church in Edinburgh. Their children included Rev Patrick Thomas Muirhead (1819-1888) minister of the Free Church in

Kippen Kippen is a village in west Stirlingshire, Scotland. It lies between the Gargunnock Hills and the Fintry Hills and overlooks the Carse of Forth to the north. The village is west of Stirling and north of Glasgow. It is south-east of Loch Lo ...

Publications

*Sermon on the Death of Thomas Davidson DD (1827) *Sermon on the Death of George Wright DD (1827)

References

Citations

Sources

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Muirhead, George 1764 births 1847 deaths People from Dysart, Fife 18th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland 19th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland 19th-century Ministers of the Free Church of Scotland