Samuel Trail (1806–1887) was a Scottish minister who served as

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the ministers and elders of the Church of Scotland, minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week i ...

in 1874.

Life

The grave of Rev Samuel Trail, St Machar's Cathedral

He was born in the parish of Udny on 31 May 1806, the son of John T. Trail, a farmer. He studied divinity at Kings College,

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

, graduating MA in 1825. He then spent some years as the private tutor to the children of the

Viscount of Arbuthnott Viscount of Arbuthnott is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1641, along with the subsidiary title Lord Inverbervie, for Sir Robert Arbuthnott. The Viscount of Arbuthnott is the hereditary chief of Clan Arbuthnott. At the time ...

. In 1841 he was appointed minister of

Arbuthnott Arbuthnott ( gd, Obar Bhuadhnait, "mouth of the Buadhnat") is a village and parish in the Howe of the Mearns, a low-lying agricultural district of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is located on the B967, east of Fordoun (on the A90) and north-west ...

Church and stayed in this role until 1844, when he was translated to

Birsay Birsay () (Old Norse: ''Birgisherað'') is a parish in the north west corner of The Mainland of Orkney, Scotland. Almost all the land in the parish is devoted to agriculture: chiefly grassland used to rear beef cattle. There are various ancient ...

church in

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

. He lived there until 1868. In 1847 he was granted an honorary doctorate by King's College (LLD) and in 1852 was additionally created a Doctor of Divinity (DD). In 1868 he was appointed Professor of Systematic Theology at the newly amalgamated

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

. He also served as provost of Old Aberdeen. He lived at the Divinity Manse at the university.Aberdeen Post Office Directory 1870 He died on 1 May 1887. He is buried against the outer east wall of St Machar's Cathedral in

Old Aberdeen Old Aberdeen is part of the city of Aberdeen in Scotland. Old Aberdeen was originally a separate burgh, which was erected into a burgh of barony on 26 December 1489. It was incorporated into adjacent Aberdeen by Act of Parliament in 1891. It ret ...

Family

In 1841 he married Helen Scott, youngest daughter of Rev James Scott of

Benholm Benholm is a small settlement in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK. It is now a conservation area and is home to Benholm Mill. The A92 passes the eastern edge of Benholm. The settlement was served by Birnie Road Halt railway station from 1865 to 1 ...

Kincardineshire Kincardineshire, also known as the Mearns (from the Scottish Gaelic meaning "the Stewartry"), is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area on the coast of northeast Scotland. It is bounded by Aberdeenshire on the north and w ...

. His daughter Isabella Anne Trail married the civil engineer

Andrew Jamieson Prof Andrew Jamieson CE FRSE (1849–1912) was a Scottish engineer and academic author. Life He was born in October 1849 in Grange in Banffshire in northern Scotland the son of Rev George Jamieson DD, minister of St Machar's Cathedral, and ...

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 letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

. His sons included John Arbuthnott Trail WS LLD (1847-1920) and Prof

James William Helenus Trail James William Helenus Trail FRS FLS (4 March 1851 – 18 September 1919) was a 20th century botanist who served as Professor of Botany at Aberdeen University from 1877 to 1919. Life He was born in Birsay on the isle of Orkney on 4 March 1851. ...

FRS. Following the death of his first wife, in 1882 he married Eliza Macpherson (1843-1912), daughter of Rev Prof James Macpherson DD. She was 39 and he was 76.

References

1806 births 1887 deaths 19th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Academics of the University of Aberdeen Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland {{Scotland-reli-bio-stub