William Taylor (1748–1825) was a 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 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 ...

in 1806. He was Chaplain in Ordinary to both

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

and

King George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

in Scotland.

Life

He was born on 28 February 1748 in Crieff the eldest son of John Taylor a local merchant. He was educated at Crieff Parish School then studied at Glasgow University.''Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae''; by Hew Scott His entry to the ministry was at the Chapel of Glasgow College. In April 1777 he was ordained as minister of

Baldernock Baldernock (;G.M. Miller, ''BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names'' (Oxford UP, 1971), p. 9. Gaelic: ''Baile D' Earnaig'') meaning 'settlement of St Earnaig' (Iain Mac an Táilleir, Sabhall Mór Ostaig) is a small parish in East Dunbartons ...

, a small village ten miles north of

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. In April 1782 he was interviewed by the Magistrates and Council of Glasgow with the prospect of taking over a new church in Glasgow dedicated to

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, the mother of St Mungo (i.e. a female saint). Through corruption of the name the locals quickly branded the church "St Enoch" (wrongly implying a male saint). Taylor was translated as the first minister of St Enoch's in November 1782. In 1787 he was living in Adams Court off Argyle Street. Glasgow University awarded him an honorary

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(DD) in 1800. In 1806 (due to Rev

William McQuhae William McQuhae or M'Quhae (1737–1823) was a senior Scottish clergyman in the Church of Scotland who by the time of his death was Father of the Church. He is one of the few persons to have declined the offer to be Moderator of the General Assembl ...

declining the position) he succeeded Rev George Hamilton 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 ...

, the highest position in the Scottish church. In January 1812 he was elected Chaplain in Ordinary to

and continued this role for his son

. He died in Glasgow on 15 March 1825. He was buried in the churchyard at St Enoch's but this was destroyed when the church was demolished in 1926 to make way for a bus station.

Family

In March 1786 he married Christian Allan daughter of Richard Allan of Bardowie. Their children included: *John Taylor of Ballochneck (1787-1829) *Richard Allan Taylor (1788-1869) advocate *Lt Gen William Taylor HEICS (1790-1868) died in

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*Mary (1793-1796) *James (d. 1825)

Publications

*An Address to the People of Scotland (1794) *The Love of Our Country Explained and Inforced (1803) *On the Death of George III (1820)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, William 1748 births 1825 deaths People from Crieff Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland