Robert Wilkie (1548–1611) was a senior

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 ...

who served as Principal of

St Leonard's College, St Andrews St Leonard's College is a postgraduate institute at the University of St Andrews in St Andrews, Scotland. Founded in 1512 as an autonomous theological college of the University of St Andrews, it merged with St Salvator's College in 1747 to form ...

and both

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 ...

of the Church of Scotland in 1600 and Constant Moderator of the Presbytery from 1606 to 1611. The Wilkie Bursary at

St Andrews University (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

was funded by his endowment. This has been running for slightly under four centuries, one of the oldest established bursaries in the world.

Life

He was born 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 ...

in 1548 and educated at St Leonard's College under principal John Duncanson, being elected "Regent" (the equivalent of Fellow). In 1586 he was given "first charge" of the parish of

- one of the most important roles in the Church of Scotland. He translated to St Leonard's Chapel in October 1591, at the same time taking over Principalship of St Leonard's College. Both these roles were previously held by his paternal uncle James Wilkie (1512-1590). He sat on the General Assembly from 1594 to 1610 and was elected Moderator, the highest position in the Scottish church, in 1600. He was elected Constant Moderator of the Presbytery of the Church of Scotland in 1606. On 20 June 1610 he was formally presented to the parish by

King James VI James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

. In February 1611 he was placed on the Court of the High Commission. He died on 26 June 1611 and is buried in the choir of the St Leonards Chapel against the north wall. He was unmarried and left his estate of 4200 Scots merks to the university. His brother James Wilkie was entrusted to use this to provide for six bursaries at the university. This was formally begun in 1627 as the Wilkie Bursary.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkie, Robert 1548 births 1611 deaths People from St Andrews Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Alumni of the University of St Andrews Principals of the University of St Andrews