Walter Walsh,

D.D. 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 ra ...

, (13 April 1857 – 20 May 1931) was a Scottish religious leader and peace activist.

Early life and education

Walsh was born in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

on 13 April 1857. He was educated at the

High School of Dundee The High School of Dundee is an independent, co-educational, day school in Dundee, Scotland, which provides nursery, primary and secondary education to just over one thousand pupils. Its foundation has been dated to 1239, and it is the only priv ...

and the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

. In 1910, he received his

from

Pittsburgh University The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

Career

Walsh served as a

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

minister in

Pitlochry Pitlochry (; gd, Baile Chloichridh or ) is a town in the Perth and Kinross council area of Scotland, lying on the River Tummel. It is historically in the county of Perthshire, and has a population of 2,776, according to the 2011 census.Scotla ...

(1882–86), Newcastle (1887–97), and

(1897–1912). He was a member of the Newcastle-on-Tyne School Board (1891–97) and also served on the Dundee City Council (1906–12). In 1912, he was condemned for holding Universalist views by the Edinburgh

Court of Session The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland and constitutes part of the College of Justice; the supreme criminal court of Scotland is the High Court of Justiciary. The Court of Session sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh ...

, and was deprived of church properties. In 1913, he moved to London and replaced the late Charles Voysey as minister of the Theistic Church, which sought a middle path between

Liberal Christianity Liberal Christianity, also known as Liberal Theology and historically as Christian Modernism (see Catholic modernism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 bill ...

and

Unitarianism Unitarianism (from Latin ''unitas'' "unity, oneness", from ''unus'' "one") is a nontrinitarian branch of Christian theology. Most other branches of Christianity and the major Churches accept the doctrine of the Trinity which states that there i ...

. In 1916, he became leader of the Free Religious Movement. He also took an interest in social issues such as pacifism, education, and housing. He was a municipal delegate to various housing conferences in Europe. He was also a vice-president of the

Universal Peace Union The Universal Peace Union was a pacifist organization founded by former members of the American Peace Society in Providence, Rhode Island with the adoption of its constitution on 16 May 1866; it was chartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 9 Apri ...

and attended numerous international peace conferences in Europe and America, where he made several tours lecturing and preaching in connection with the international

peace movement A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals, such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world peac ...

Personal life and death

In 1882, Walsh married Alice Mary Lambert (1855–1937). They had four sons and five daughters. He died in

Whetstone, London Whetstone is a place in the London Borough of Barnet, bearing the postcode N20. It is to the east of Totteridge, and these areas are known together as Totteridge and Whetstone. Whetstone is around 8.5 miles North of Charing Cross and is within ...

on 20 May 1931, aged 74. The Rev. Dr. Walsh is sometimes confused with his English contemporary

Walter Walsh Walter Rudolph Walsh (May 4, 1907 – April 29, 2014) was an FBI agent, USMC shooting instructor and Olympic shooter. Walsh joined the FBI in 1934, serving during the Public enemy era, and was involved in several high-profile FBI case ...

(1847–1912), a lay Protestant who also wrote works on religion; the two men do not appear to have been related.

Selected bibliography

*''The Moral Damage of War'' (1902) *''Jesus in Juteopolis'' (1906) *''The Greater Parables of Tolstoy'' (1906) *''Hymns of Divine Unity and Love'' (1915) *''The World Rebuilt'' (1917) *''The Golden Rule'' (1920)

Notes

References

External links

Works by Walter Walsh (1857–1931)
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Walter 1931 deaths People from Dundee Alumni of the University of Glasgow People educated at the High School of Dundee 1857 births 20th-century Scottish writers Scottish pacifists