John Laird (1811–1896) was a Scottish minister of the

Free Church of Scotland Free Church of Scotland may refer to: * Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900), seceded in 1843 from the Church of Scotland. The majority merged in 1900 into the United Free Church of Scotland; historical * Free Church of Scotland (since 1900), rema ...

who served as

Moderator of the General Assembly The moderator of the General Assembly is the chairperson of a General Assembly, the highest court of a Presbyterian or Reformed church. Kirk sessions and presbyteries may also style the chairperson as moderator. The Oxford Dictionary states th ...

to the Free Church 1889/90.

Life

He was born in the manse at

Portmoak Portmoak is a parish in Kinross-shire, Scotland. It consists of a group of settlements running north to south: Glenlomond, Wester Balgedie, Easter Balgedie, Kinnesswood, Kilmagadwood and Scotlandwell. The name derives from the Port of St Mo ...

on the banks of

Loch Leven Loch Leven may refer to: ;Bodies of water in Scotland * Loch Leven (Kinross), a freshwater loch in Perth and Kinross ** Loch Leven Castle, a fortress on the loch ** William Douglas of Lochleven, later the 6th Earl of Morton * Loch Leven (Highlands) ...

, the son of Hugh Laird (d.1849). His father was minister of the parish from 1802 to 1843 and the Free Chuch minister until his death in 1849. He studied divinity at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

and was ordained by 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 Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( gd, Obar Bhrothaig ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast some ENE of Dundee and SSW of Aberdeen. The ...

in 1835. He was translated to

Inverkeilor Inverkeilor is a village and parish in Angus, Scotland. It lies near the North Sea coast, midway between Arbroath and Montrose. The A92 road now bypasses the village. The population of Inverkeilor parish in the United Kingdom Census 2001 was ...

in 1836. He left the established church 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 ...

and joined the Free Church of Scotland. In 1847 he became minister of the Free St George's Church in Montrose. In 1853 he translated to the Free Church in

Cupar Cupar ( ; gd, Cùbar) is a town, former royal burgh and parish in Fife, Scotland. It lies between Dundee and Glenrothes. According to a 2011 population estimate, Cupar had a population around 9,000, making it the ninth-largest settlement in Fif ...

, replacing Adam Cairns. In 1870 he organised the rebuilding of the Free Church in Cupar. This was designed by

Campbell Douglas Archibald Campbell Douglas (usually simply referred to as Campbell Douglas) (14 June 1828 – 14 April 1910) was a Scottish architect based primarily in Glasgow. He designed many churches in Glasgow and Edinburgh, especially those for the Fre ...

and occupied from 1875 but the huge spire was not completed until 1879. In May 1881, J. T. Ferguson of Glasgow was appointed his colleague and successor. In 1889 he was elected

. He was succeeded in 1890 by Thomas Brown.Free Church Monthly June 1896 He died in 1896.

Works

*Hearing the Word, a sermon *Sermon on the Death of Captain A. O. Dalgleish, Cupar-Fife *Sermon LXI. (Free Church Pulpit, ii., 89) *Sermons emorial Sketch (portrait by his son David) (Edinburgh, 1897). — *Presb. Review, viii.

Family

He married 5 November 1840, Agnes Maule (born 11 May 1822, died 11 December 1887), daughter of Thomas Anderson, farmer, Westhaven, Carnoustie, and Jean Sim, and had issue — *Hugh Alexander, merchant, Rangoon, Burma, born 1 December 1841, died 21 August 1911 *Jane Catherine, born 10 February 1843, died 31 May 1873 *John George, mercantile clerk, born 21 November 1848, died 12 August 1867 *Henry James, merchant, London, born 27 June 1853 *David Michael William, born 1 April 1856, minister of the Free Church, Durris, Kincardineshire, 1884-1904, died in Edinburgh, March 1924 *Alexander Anderson, banker, London, born 8 October 1859, died 22 July 1922. John's grandson, by his son D. M. W. Laird was the philosopher

John Laird John Laird may refer to: * John Laird (American politician) (born 1950), California State Senator * John Laird (footballer) (1935–2016) Australian rules footballer * John Laird (philosopher) (1887–1946), Scottish philosopher * John Laird (ship ...

. Two of his brothers, Alexander Oswald Laird of

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

, and Henry Laird of

Leslie, Fife Leslie (Scottish Gaelic: Fiodh Chill) is a large village and parish on the northern tip of the River Leven Valley, to the west of Glenrothes in Fife. According to the population estimates (2006), the village has a population of 3,092. The village ...

were Free Church ministers. Two of his sisters married Free Church ministers: Rev Spiers of

Kinglassie Kinglassie (Scottish Gaelic: ''Cill Ghlaise'') is a small village and parish in central Fife, Scotland. It is located two miles southwest of Glenrothes. It has a population of around () The civil parish has a population of 22,543 (in 2011).Cens ...

and Rev James Swinton of

(his father's successor).

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Laird, John 1811 births 1896 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh 19th-century Ministers of the Free Church of Scotland