Thomas Brown (1811–1893) was a Scottish minister in the

Free Church of Scotland Free Church of Scotland may refer to: * Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900), seceded in 1843 from the Church of Scotland. The majority merged in 1900 into the United Free Church of Scotland; historical * Free Church of Scotland (since 1900), rema ...

who rose to its highest rank,

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 ...

in 1890. He was a noted geologist and botanist. He wrote prolifically on the history of 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 ...

Life

He was born on 23 April 1811 in the manse at

Langton, Berwickshire Gavinton is a small settlement in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, south-west of Duns, the former county town of Berwickshire. The hamlet sits on a minor road off the A6105 Duns to Greenlaw road at . History Gavinton is a relatively new s ...

in south-east

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, the son of John Brown, minister of that parish. He trained in theology at

Edinburgh University 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 1582 ...

and began working as a minister in 1837 at

Kinneff Kinneff is a roadside hamlet in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, just north of Inverbervie.Kinneff.
Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

. He left 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 ...

at the point of the

. He spent some years without a ministry before being placed in the relatively prestigious Dean Free Church on Belford Road in north-west

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

in 1849. He remained in the Free Church of Scotland for the rest of his life, serving as its Moderator for 1890/91 and the age of 79 in succession to Rev John Laird. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh 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 established i ...

in 1861. His address was then listed as 16 Carlton Street in

Stockbridge, Edinburgh Stockbridge is a suburb of Edinburgh, located north of the city centre, bounded by the New Town and by Comely Bank. The name is Scots ''stock brig'' from Anglic ''stocc brycg'', meaning a timber bridge. Originally a small outlying village, i ...

honoured him with a

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

in 1880. He died at home, 16 Carlton Street in

on 4 April 1893.

Family

He married 27 April 1848, Marianne (born 30 November 1814, died 9 December 1856 and whose brother was Alexander Wood), daughter of James Wood, M.D., Edinburgh, and Mary Wood of Grangehill, and had issue — *John James Graham, M.D., President, Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh, Lecturer on Neurology in University of Edinburgh, born 6 September 1853; died 1925 *Mary Eleanor Lucy, died in infancy *James Wood, M.A., minister of the Free Church, Gordon, Berwickshire, author of Covenanters of the Merse, and other works, born 2 December 1856, died at Florence 16 March 1914.

Publications

See *''Botany of Langton'' – part of the ''New Statistical Account of Scotland, 1834'' *''A Sketch of the Life and Work of Alexander Wood MD FRCP'' (1886) *''Commentary on the Gospels'' (1854) *''Church and State in Scotland, 1560 to 1843'' (1891) *''Annals of the Disruption'' (1893) *''A History of Berwickshire Natuaralists' Club'' (proceedings of the

, 1893) *Annals of the Disruption (Edinburgh, 1876, 1884, 1893) *Church and State in Scotland from 1560 to 1843 halmers Lecture (Edinburgh, 1891) *"The Game of Ball as played in Dunse on Fastern's Eve" (A History of Berwickshire Natuaralists' Club, vol. i., 44–6) *"Notes on the Mountain Limestone and Lower Carboniferous Rocks of the Fifeshire Coast, from Burntisland to St Andrews" (Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin., vol. xxii.) *"On a Clay Deposit . . . recently observed in the Basin of the Forth" (Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin.) *"Notice of Glacial Clay near Errol" *"On the Parallel Roads of Glenroy " *" On the Old River Terraces of the Earn and Teith" (Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin., xxvi.) *"Address to Berwickshire Nat. Club, 12th Oct. 1881 " (A History of Berwickshire Natuaralists' Club, ix., 415–24) *Account of the Parish (New Statistical Account, xi.)

Bibliography

*Obituary Notice by Prof. Duns, D.D., in Hist. Berwickshire Nat. Club (1892-3), 339-46 *The Border Almanac (1894), 76–8.

References

Citations

Sources

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