Robert Buchanan (1802–1875) was a Scottish minister and historian 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 of Scotland in 1860/61. He was one of the leading figures 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 had correspondence with several notable figures of the day over many years:

Lord Aberdeen George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, (28 January 178414 December 1860), styled Lord Haddo from 1791 to 1801, was a British statesman, diplomat and landowner, successively a Tory, Conservative and Peelite politician and specialist in ...

; Sir

Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer ...

;

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 ...

from 1834 to 1845; and

George Combe George Combe (21 October 1788 – 14 August 1858) was a trained Scottish lawyer and a spokesman of the phrenological movement for over 20 years. He founded the Edinburgh Phrenological Society in 1820 and wrote a noted study, ''The Constitution o ...

from 1821 to 1827.

Life

He was born in July 1802 at St Ninian's, a small district in the east of

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

in central Scotland. He was the son of Alexander Buchanan, a brewer and farmer, and his wife, Margaret Wingate. He studied Divinity 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 , ...

. He was ordained in 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 ...

in 1826 in

Gargunnock Gargunnock is a small village in the Stirling council area, west of Stirling, in Scotland. The census population was 912. It is situated on the south edge of the Carse of Stirling, at the foot of the Gargunnock Hills, part of the Campsie Fells ...

and translated in 1829 to

Saltoun East Saltoun and West Saltoun are separate villages in East Lothian, Scotland, about 5 miles (8 kilometres) south-west of Haddington and 20 miles (32 kilometres) east of Edinburgh. Geography The villages of East Saltoun and West Saltoun, toge ...

East Lothian East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the histo ...

, replacing Rev Dr Gilbert Burnet. In 1833 he moved to the

Tron Kirk The Tron Kirk is a former principal parish church in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is a well-known landmark on the Royal Mile. It was built in the 17th century and closed as a church in 1952. Having stood empty for over fifty years, it was used ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. He then lived at 2 Richmond Street. Working from the base created by his predecessor, Rev Dr

he did much "home mission" work in Glasgow and expanded the church into the poorer areas such as "The Wynds" of old Glasgow. . In 1838 it was Buchanan who chaired the debate on the "Auchterarder question", regarding the ability of a congregation to refuse a minister proposed by the local patron. This debate was the beginning of the schism which eventually led to the

. In this. Buchanan stood at the side of Chalmers and was part of the heated debate. The church split in two and he was thereafter a minister of the Free Church of Scotland. In 1857 he transferred to the Free College Church College on Lynedoch Street. In 1860 he succeeded Very Rev William Cunningham as Moderator of the General Assembly, the highest position in the Free Church. He was succeeded in turn in 1861 by Rev

Robert Smith Candlish Robert Smith Candlish (23 March 1806 – 19 October 1873) was a Scottish minister who was a leading figure in the Disruption of 1843. He served for many years in both St. George's Church and St George's Free Church on Charlotte Square in Edinb ...

. From 1863 to 1873 he presided over the committee looking at the potential union of the Free Church with the United Presbyterian Church, the Reformed Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church of England, all being doctrinally similar. Although these talks were unsuccessful, large sections did merge in 1900. From 1872 until death he was an active member of the Glasgow School Board. In later life he lived at 2 Sandyford Place, a handsome Georgian terraced house in north-west Glasgow. He was invited to speak at the Scottish Church in Rome, Italy in February 1875. He fell ill during this trip and died in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

during the night of 30/31 March 1875. His body was returned to Glasgow for burial.

Publications

*Speech in General Assembly (Glasgow, 1838) *God to be obeyed rather than Man, a discourse (Glasgow, 1839) *The Presbyteries of the Church threatened with Imprisonment in the discharge of their Official Duty (Glasgow, 1839) *A Discourse after the Funeral of Mrs Alexander of Ballochmyle (Glasgow, 1843) *A Discourse after the Funeral of Claud Alexander of Ballochmyle (Glasgow, 1845) *The Ten Years' Conflict, 2 vols. (Edinburgh, 1849) *The Schoolmaster in the Wynds, or how to Educate the Masses (Glasgow, 1850) *Notes of a Clerical Furlough (London, 1859) *The Book of Ecclesiastes (London, 1859) *Present State of the Union Question (Edinburgh) *Lectures I. (To Young Men) *IV. (On the Evidences) *V. (On the Jews) *Sermon XLIX. (Free Church Pulpit).

Artistic recognition

The-moderator-and-ex-moderators-of-the-free-church

He was photographed when he was Moderator in 1860 (''illustrated'' right) at the foot of the steps to New College with several ex-Moderators of the Free Church. He was portrayed by James Armytage.

Family

He married: *(1) 5 March 1828, Anne Handyside, died 29 April 1841, and had issue— **Alexander, C.E., Derby, born 10 December 1829 **Hugh, born 22 October 1831 **Margaret, born 10 March 1833, died 5 March 1834 **Marjory, born 8 April 1835, died 2 April 1837 **Anne Wingate, born 28 July 1837 **Robert, born 28 August 1838, died 11 July 1841 *(2) 31 October 1843, Elizabeth (died 28 April 1898), daughter of Laurence Stoddart, Cambridge, and had issue — **Isabella (married John M'Laren) **Charlotte Elizabeth (married Robert M'Alpine Thornton, minister of Wellpark Free Church) **Harriet (married Dr J. G. Wilson) **Laurence, solicitor, Glasgow.

References

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Life

Publications

Artistic recognition

Family

References

Further reading