Robert Hamilton

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(19 May 1707 – 3 April 1787) was Professor of Divinity at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. He served twice as

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week in Edinburgh every year. After chairing the Ass ...

and was also a co-founder of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

Life

He was born on 19 May 1707 in

Cramond Cramond Village (; ) is a village and suburb in the north-west of Edinburgh, Scotland, at the mouth of the River Almond where it enters the Firth of Forth. The Cramond area has evidence of Mesolithic, Bronze Age and Roman activity. In modern ...

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 '' ...

, the fourth son of Very Rev William Hamilton (1669–1732), Principal of the

and minister of

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 c ...

. His mother was Mary Robertson (1675–1760). He was educated at the High School in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

and then studied Divinity at the

. He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Edinburgh in 1730 and in April 1731 was ordained as minister of his father’s parish at

. In 1736 he was translated to Lady Yester’s Kirk and in December 1750 to Old Greyfriars Kirk on the south edge of the then city. From 1754 to 1779 he served as professor of divinity at the

. The University granted him a doctorate (DD) in 1759. In both 1754 and 1760 he served as

. He was also a Dean of the

Thistle Chapel The Thistle Chapel, located in St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, Scotland, is the chapel of the Order of the Thistle. At the foundation of the Order of the Thistle in 1687, James II of England, James VII ordered Holyrood Abbey be fitted out as a ...

St Giles Cathedral St Giles' Cathedral (), or the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Old Town of Edinburgh. The current building was begun in the 14th century and extended until the early 16th century; significant alteratio ...

. In 1785 he is listed in living in quarters at Old College.Williamson's Directory 1785 He died on 3 April 1787. He is buried in the small cemetery on Buccleuch Street in Edinburgh (built as a relief cemetery to St Cuthbert’s).

Family

He was the father to

James Hamilton James Hamilton may refer to: Dukes *James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton (1606–1649), heir to the throne of Scotland *James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton (1658–1712), Scottish nobleman *James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Hamilton (1703–1743), Sco ...

, the physician, and the uncle to Robert Hamilton, the economist. In March 1745 he married Jean Hay (1714–1801) daughter of John Hay of Haystoun. Their daughter, Grizel Hamilton, married the eminent Edinburgh surgeon, Benjamin Bell. Their son Gavin Hamilton

(1755–1829) was a surgeon who spent many years in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. A second son Robert Hamilton (1749–1835) was also a surgeon and was also present at the founding of the

in 1783, and serving as President of the

Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) is a medical royal college in Scotland. It is one of three organisations that set the specialty training standards for physicians in the United Kingdom. It was established by royal charter i ...

from 1792 to 1794.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Robert 1707 births 1787 deaths Academics from Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Edinburgh Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Clergy from Edinburgh