James Barr (1789–1861) was a minister of the Church of Scotland, who served as Moderator of the General Assembly in 1853.

Life

He was born in 1789 the fourth son of John Barr a farmer near Dunlop. He studied at Glasgow University and was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Glasgow in December 1813.''Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae''; by Hew Scott In July 1815 he was ordained by the Presbyterian ministry of Liverpool as minister of Oldham Street Church in Liverpool. Glasgow University awarded him an honorary

Doctor of Divinity 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 ran ...

in 1821. In February 1823 he became minister of

Port Glasgow Port Glasgow ( gd, Port Ghlaschu, ) is the second-largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19,426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16,617 persons. The most recen ...

Parish Church. In October 1843 the Glasgow Town Council presented him to the congregation of St Enoch's Church and he translated to this new position in November 1843 in place of James Henderson who had joined the Free Church in the Disruption of 1843. In 1853 he succeeded

Lewis William Forbes Lewis William Forbes (1794–1854) was a Scottish minister who served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1852, the highest position in the Church of Scotland Life He was born in Banff, Aberdeenshire on 16 Augus ...

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the ministers and elders of the Church of Scotland, minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week i ...

the highest position in the Scottish Church. He was succeeded in turn by

James Grant James Grant may refer to: Politics and law *Sir James Grant, 1st Baronet (died 1695), Scottish lawyer *Sir James Grant, 6th Baronet (1679–1747), Scottish Whig politician *Sir James Grant, 8th Baronet (1738–1811), Scottish member of parliament * ...

. He died on 16 December 1861. He was buried in the graveyard of St Enoch's. Both church and graveyard were destroyed in 1926 to make way for a bus station.

Family

In June 1823 he married Sarah Jane Steele daughter of Matthew Steele of Liverpool. Their children included: *Isabella (1824–1849) *John (1825–1844) *Marion (or Maria) Stevenson Barr (b. 1828) married John Wilson of Dundyvan''Glasgow Herald'', 23 March 1849 *Elizabeth Dunlop Barr (b. 1832) *Edward Steele Barr (b. 1834) *Jemima Jane

Publications

*''Account of the Parish of Newark'' *''Contending for the Faith'' (1845)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barr, James 1789 births 1861 deaths People from Dunlop, East Ayrshire Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Alumni of the University of Glasgow