Rev Dr William Muir by Sir John Steell, Dean Cemetery

William Muir

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 ...

(1787–1869) 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 ...

. He served as

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the ministers and elders of the Church of Scotland, minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week i ...

in 1838.

Life

He was born in Glasgow on 11 October 1787 the third son of William Muir a merchant. He was educated at Glasgow High School then went to first

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

for a general degree then

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 ...

to study Divinity. He was licensed to preach as a Church of scotland minister by the Prebytery of Glasgow in November 1810. In August 1812 he was ordained as minister of St George's Parish in Glasgow. He was awarded an honorary

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 ...

from Edinburgh University in 1820. In September 1822 he was translated to the prestigious role as minister of New Greyfriars back in Edinburgh. In February 1829 he moved to the newly completed St Stephen's Church 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 ...

as its first minister. In Edinburgh he then lived at 5 St Bernards Crescent, 400m west of the church. The outstanding Georgian crescent was also newly completed. 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 1824, his proposer being

Alexander Brunton Alexander Brunton FRSE FSA (2 October 1772 - 9 February 1854) was a Scottish minister in the Church of Scotland who rose to its highest rank, Moderator of the General Assembly in 1823. He was a noted academic, as Professor of Hebrew and Orie ...

. In 1838 he served as

, succeeding Rev Matthew Gardiner. In 1845 he was made Dean of the Thistle Chapel and created Chaplain in Ordinary to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

. He retired in 1867 due to blindness and was succeeded at St Stephens by Rev Maxwell Nicholson. He died at Ormelie House in

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen and Roseburn. The A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murrayfield is often conside ...

in western

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 23 June 1869. He is buried in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and on ...

in western Edinburgh. The grave lies in the central southern section and is marked by a large pink granite obelisk. It carries a bronze head sculpted by

Sir John Steell Sir John Robert Steell (Aberdeen 18 September 1804 – 15 September 1891) was a Scottish sculptor. He modelled many of the leading figures of Scottish history and culture, and is best known for a number of sculptures displayed in Edinburgh, ...

Publications

*''Discourses on the Epistle of

St Jude Jude ( grc-gre, Ἰούδας Ἰακώβου translit. Ioúdas Iakóbou) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is generally identified as Thaddeus ( grc-gre, Θαδδαῖος; cop, ⲑⲁⲇⲇⲉⲟⲥ; ...

'' (1822) *''Memoirs and Letters of Rev William Guthrie'' (1827) *''Sermons on the Seven Churches in Asia'' (1830) *''Three Sermons on the Present Distress'' (1832) *''An Arrangement of the Parables'' (1836) *''Speech on the

Auchterarder Auchterarder (; gd, Uachdar Àrdair, meaning Upper Highland) is a small town located north of the Ochil Hills in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, and home to the Gleneagles Hotel. The High Street of Auchterarder gave the town its popular name of "Th ...

Case'' (1839) *''Practical Sermons on the Holy Spirit'' (1842) *''Metrical Meditations'' (1870)

Family

He was married twice. In 1813 he married Hannah Black daughter of James Black,

Lord Provost of Glasgow The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Glasgow is the convener of the Glasgow City Council. Elected by the city councillors, the Lord Provost serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the entire city. The office is equiv ...

from 1808 to 1810 and 1816 to 1818. Their children included: *Hannah Shortridge Muir (1816-1822) *James Muir (b.1817) *Rev Robert Hugh Muir (1819-1903) minister of

Dalmeny Dalmeny ( gd, Dùn Mheinidh, IPA: �t̪uːnˈvenɪʝ is a village and civil parish in Scotland. It is located on the south side of the Firth of Forth, southeast of South Queensferry and west of Edinburgh city centre. It lies within the tradi ...

*William (b.1820) *John (d.1823) *Rev John Stenhouse Muir (1826-1874) minister of

Cockpen Cockpen is a parish in Midlothian, Scotland, containing at its north-west corner the town of Bonnyrigg, which lies south-west of Dalkeith. It is bounded on the west and north by the parish of Lasswade, on the east, by Newbattle and on the south ...

In October 1844, following Hannah's death in August 1827, he married Anne Dirom (1808-1887), twenty years his junior, youngest daughter of Lt Gen

Alexander Dirom Lieutenant General (United Kingdom), Lieutenant General Alexander Dirom of Luce Bay, Luce and Mount Annan Royal Society of London, FRS FRSE (21May 17576October 1830) was a British military commander who saw overseas service in Barbados, Jamaica a ...

of Mount Annan, but did not have further children.

Artistic recognition

His portrait by Thomas Guff Lupton is held by the

Scottish National Portrait Gallery The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. The gallery holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the Scottish National Photography Co ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muir, William 1787 births 1869 deaths Clergy from Glasgow Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish non-fiction writers Burials at the Dean Cemetery Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 19th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland