Robert Wallace (7 January 1697 – 29 July 1771) was a minister of 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 Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...

and writer on population.

Life

He was the only son of Margaret Stewart, wife of Rev Matthew Wallace, the parish minister of

Kincardine-in-Menteith Kincardine is a civil parish in the Scottish council area of Stirling and the former county of Perthshire in the historic district of Menteith. It lies between the River Teith and River Forth and contains the villages of Blair Drummond and Thor ...

Fasti Ecclesiastae Scoticana by Hew Scott (west 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 ...

), where he was born on 7 January 1697. Educated at

grammar school, he then attended 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 ...

in 1711, and acted for a time (1720) as assistant to James Gregory, the University professor of mathematics. He was one of the founders of the Rankenian Club in 1717. On 31 July 1722 Wallace was licensed as a preacher by the presbytery of

Dunblane Dunblane (, gd, Dùn Bhlàthain) is a small town in the council area of Stirling in central Scotland, and inside the historic boundaries of the county of Perthshire. It is a commuter town, with many residents making use of good transport links ...

, Perthshire, and he was presented by the Marquis of Annandale to the parish of Moffat, Dumfriesshire, in August 1723. In 1733 he became minister of New Greyfriars, Edinburgh. He offended the government of 1736 by declining to read from his pulpit the proclamation against the Porteous rioters. On 30 August 1738 he was translated to the New North (St Giles). In 1742, on a change of ministry at Westminster, he regained influence, and was entrusted for five years with the management of church business and the distribution of ecclesiastical patronage. From a suggestion of John Mathison of the High Kirk, St Giles, Wallace, togerther with Alexander Webster of the Tolbooth St Giles, developed the Ministers' Widows' Fund. On 12 May 1743 Wallace was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. The Assembly approved the Widows' Fund. scheme, and at the end of the year he submitted it in London to Robert Craigie, the

Lord Advocate His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate ( gd, Morair Tagraidh, sco, Laird Advocat), is the chief legal officer of the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for both civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolved p ...

, who saw it into legislation. In June 1744 Wallace was appointed a Chaplain in Ordinary to King George II in Scotland and

Dean of the Chapel Royal The Dean of the Chapel Royal, in any kingdom, can be the title of an official charged with oversight of that kingdom's chapel royal, the ecclesiastical establishment which is part of the royal household and ministers to it. England In England, ...

. He received the honorary degree of D.D. from the University of Edinburgh on 13 March 1759, and died on 29 July 1771. His position at New Church, St Giles was filled by Rev William Gloag.

Works

Wallace published in 1753 a ''Dissertation on the Numbers of Mankind in Ancient and Modern Times''. It contained criticism of the chapter on the ''Populousness of Ancient Nations'' in

David Hume David Hume (; born David Home; 7 May 1711 NS (26 April 1711 OS) – 25 August 1776) Cranston, Maurice, and Thomas Edmund Jessop. 2020 999br>David Hume" ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 18 May 2020. was a Scottish Enlightenment phil ...

's ''Political Discourses''. The work was translated into French under the supervision of

Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (; ; 18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher. He is the princi ...

, and it was republished in an English edition with a memoir in 1809. In 1758 appeared Wallace's ''Characteristics of the Present State of Great Britain''. In ''Various Prospects of Mankind, Nature, and Providence'' (1761), he recurred to his population theories, and was believed (by

William Hazlitt William Hazlitt (10 April 177818 September 1830) was an English essayist, drama and literary critic, painter, social commentator, and philosopher. He is now considered one of the greatest critics and essayists in the history of the English lan ...

and

Thomas Noon Talfourd Sir Thomas Noon Talfourd SL (26 May 179513 March 1854) was an English judge, Radical politician and author. Life The son of a well-to-do brewer, Talfourd was born in Reading, Berkshire. He received his education at Hendon and Reading School. ...

) to have influenced Robert Malthus.

Family

In October 1726 Wallace married Helen Turnbull, daughter of Rev George Turnbull, minister of

Tyninghame Tyninghame is a small settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, about two miles north-east of East Linton. Together with the nearby settlement of Whitekirk, it gives its name to the parish of Whitekirk and Tyninghame. Tyninghame Tyninghame is ...

in East Lothian. She died on 9 February 1776, leaving two sons: * Rev Dr Matthew Wallace DD vicar of

Tenterden Tenterden is a town in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. It stands on the edge of the remnant forest the Weald, overlooking the valley of the River Rother. It was a member of the Cinque Ports Confederation. Its riverside today is not ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

* George Wallace (1727-1805) was known as an advocate and writer. *Elizabeth, all of whom died unmarried.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Robert (minister) 1697 births 1771 deaths 18th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Ministers of St Giles' Cathedral British demographers