William Crichton (1630–1708) was a Scottish 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 Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

who twice served as

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 ...

, the highest position in the Scottish Church.

Life

He was probably from

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 ...

or the surrounding part of east Scotland. He attended

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 graduated MA in July 1649. He was ordained as minister of

Bathgate Bathgate ( sco, Bathket or , gd, Both Chèit) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, west of Livingston and adjacent to the M8 motorway. Nearby towns are Armadale, Blackburn, Linlithgow, Livingston, West Calder and Whitburn. Situated sout ...

in April 1654 by the Protesting Presbytery. He served there for 39 years; during this period he served as

in 1692. In 1693, he translated to

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 ...

Parish Church. In 1695, he translated to the prestigious

Tron Kirk The Tron Kirk is a former principal parish church in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is a well-known landmark on the Royal Mile. It was built in the 17th century and closed as a church in 1952. Having stood empty for over fifty years, it was used ...

Royal Mile The Royal Mile () is a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. The term was first used descriptively in W. M. Gilbert's ''Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century'' (1901), des ...

, replacing Rev William Erskine who had died unexpectedly.''Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae''; by Hew Scott In 1697, serving at the Tron, he was again elected Moderator. Due to his position he was one of the main religious inputs into the agreements leading to the Act of

Union of 1707 The Acts of Union ( gd, Achd an Aonaidh) were two Acts of Parliament: the Union with Scotland Act 1706 passed by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act 1707 passed by the Parliament of Scotland. They put into effect the te ...

, in which Scotland lost its political power, but (partly through his influence) fully retained its religious independence. He retired on 12 May 1707 and was granted a pension of 1000 Scots merks per year (around £650 in English equivalent, around £160,000 per year in 2021) by the Edinburgh Town Council, an extremely generous sum. However, he only collected this for around 18 months, dying on 17 November 1708 aged 77. His position at the Tron Kirk was filled by Rev William Wishart.

Family

Although he is known to be married with children, nothing is known of the names of his wife or children. By 1770 there were only three Crichton families of note in Edinburgh: James Crichton a brewer on the

Canongate The Canongate is a street and associated district in central Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The street forms the main eastern length of the Royal Mile while the district is the main eastern section of Edinburgh's Old Town. It began ...

, Mr Crichton a coach-builder at the back of the

and Mrs Crichton a

vintner A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to deter ...

on Bernard Street in

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

.Williamson's Edinburgh Directory 1770

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crichton, William 1630 births 1708 deaths Clergy from Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland