William Bruce Robertson (1820–1886),
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
divine, was born at
Greenhill,
St. Ninians
St. Ninians is a long-standing settlement which is now a district of the city of Stirling in central Scotland. It is located approximately one mile south of the city centre. It was originally known as Eccles (i.e. 'church'), and may have bee ...
,
Stirling, 24 May 1820, and was educated at the
University of Glasgow and at the Secession Theological Hall,
Edinburgh, where he made the acquaintance of
Thomas de Quincey, and on his recommendation went to the
University of Halle and studied under
Friedrich Tholuck
Friedrich August Gottreu Tholuck (30 March 1799 – 10 June 1877), known as August Tholuck, was a German Protestant theologian, pastor, and historian, and church leader.
Biography
Tholuck was born at Breslau, and educated at the gymnasium and ...
.
After travelling in
Italy and
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
he was licensed to preach by the
Presbytery of Stirling and
Falkirk
Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow.
Falkirk had a ...
in 1843, and was soon after ordained at the
United Secession Church
The United Secession Church (or properly the United Associate Synod of the Secession Church) was a Scottish Presbyterian denomination.
The First Secession from the established Church of Scotland had been in 1732, and the resultant "Associate Pre ...
(after 1847, the
United Presbyterian Church) in
Irvine Irvine may refer to:
Places On Earth Antarctica
*Irvine Glacier
*Mount Irvine (Antarctica)
Australia
*Irvine Island
*Mount Irvine, New South Wales
Canada
*Irvine, Alberta
* Irvine Inlet, Nunavut
United Kingdom
*Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotla ...
,
Ayrshire
Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...
. In this charge he remained for 35 years, exercising from his
pulpit
A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...
a truly magnetic influence, not so discernible in his published
sermons. From 1871 his health failed, in spite of several visits to
Florence and the
Riviera
''Riviera'' () is an Italian word which means "coastline", ultimately derived from Latin , through Ligurian . It came to be applied as a proper name to the coast of Liguria, in the form ''Riviera ligure'', then shortened in English. The two areas ...
. He resigned his charge in 1878 and died at
Bridge of Allan, 27 June 1886.
He wrote many
hymns, among them a version of ''
Dies Irae''; several of them, together with letters, etc., are to be found in the ''Life'' by
James Brown
James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...
. A volume containing Robertson's lectures on
Martin Luther and other subjects was published in 1892.
References
External links
*
Clergy from Stirling
Alumni of the University of Glasgow
19th-century Presbyterian ministers
19th-century Scottish writers
1820 births
1886 deaths
Ministers of Secession Churches in Scotland
Ministers of the United Presbyterian Church (Scotland)
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