William Lothian

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 ...

(1740–1783) was a Scottish minister, author and joint founder 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 ...

Life

He was born in

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 ...

on 5 November 1740 the son of Dr George Lothian (died 1746), a surgeon. He was educated at the High School in Edinburgh. 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 ...

studying divinity from 1755 and was licensed to preach in October 1762, aged only 21. In 1764 he was appointed minister of

Canongate Kirk The Kirk of the Canongate, or Canongate Kirk, serves the Parish of Canongate in Edinburgh's Old Town, in Scotland. It is a congregation of the Church of Scotland. The parish includes the Palace of Holyroodhouse and the Scottish Parliament. It i ...

on the

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 ...

and remained in that post until death. In 1779 he received an honorary doctorate (DD) from

. On 17 November 1783 he was one of the joint founders of the

. He died four weeks later on 17 December 1783, making him the first member to die. He is buried in

Canongate Kirkyard The Canongate Kirkyard ( en, Churchyard) stands around Canongate Kirk on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Scotland. The churchyard was used for burials from the late 1680s until the mid-20th century. The most celebrated burials at the kirkyard are ...

next to his own church. The grave lies adjacent to the eastern doorway to the lower north section.

Family

In 1766 he married a cousin, Elizabeth Lothian (died 1815) daughter of Edward Lothian an Edinburgh jeweller. They had five sons and one daughter: Edward Lothian WS (1769-1840), William (b.1770), George Lothian (b.1772) a merchant 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 ...

, John (1775-1779), Thomas Lothian (b.1776) a surgeon, and Helen (b.1773).Fasti Ecclesiastae Scoticana by Hew Scott

Publications

*''The Scotch Preacher'' (1776) *''The History of the United Provinces of the Netherlands'' (1780)

References

1740 births 1783 deaths Writers from Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Clergy from Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Scottish non-fiction writers Burials at the Canongate Kirkyard {{Scotland-reli-bio-stub