William Wishart (secundus) (1691/92–1753) was a Scottish clergyman who served as the Principal of

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 ...

from 1736 to 1753. He 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 ...

for 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 ...

in 1745.

Life

He was born 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 ...

the son of

William Wishart :''See also William Wishart (disambiguation)'' William Wishart (or Wischard) (died 28 May 1279) was a 13th-century Bishop of St. Andrews. He was postulated to the see of St. Andrews (''Cell Rígmonaid'' or ''Cill Rìmhinn'') while holding the ...

where his father was minister of

South Leith Parish Church South Leith Parish Church, originally the Kirk of Our Lady, St Mary, is a congregation of the Church of Scotland. It is the principal church and congregation in Leith, in Edinburgh. Its kirkyard is the burial place for John Home (author of ''D ...

. In 1707 his father became minister of

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 ...

in central

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 ...

and the family moved to 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 ...

. His father became Principal of

in 1716 and served that role until 1730. Wishart studied divinity at

(prior to his father's principalship) and was ordained by the

as minister of the Scots Church (Founders Hall) in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

around 1710. In 1724 Wishart came into a large legacy from his uncle Admiral Sir James Wishart who was an Admiral of the White.James Wishart
Paula Watson, HistoryOfParliament.org, accessed December 2012 In 1737 he returned to Edinburgh in the dual role of Principal of Edinburgh University and minister of New Greyfriars (Greyfriars at that time being split into two halves in one building). In 1745 he translated to "second charge" of

in Edinburgh, under his younger brother Rev George Wishart, the church being around 500m to the north-east of Greyfriars. They are the only known first charge/second charge who were brothers. He served as Moderator in 1745 following in the pattern of both his father and brother. He died on 12 May 1753. He is buried with his father in

Greyfriars Kirkyard Greyfriars Kirkyard is the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the southern edge of the Old Town, adjacent to George Heriot's School. Burials have been taking place since the late 16th century, and a num ...

Family

In 1724 he married Margaret Halyburton daughter of Rev Prof Thomas Halyburton, Professor of Divinity at

St Andrews University (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

. They had: a son, William Thomas Wishart (of Foxhall) (d.1799); a son who died in 1739; Ann (1737-1819); Janet married Mr Maxwell in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

; Margaret married James Macdowall an Edinburgh merchant; Cordelia married Dr John Moncrieff MD of Rumgay. Margaret died in 1746 and William married Frances Deans daughter of James Deans of Woodhouselee. They had no children and after William died in 1754 she married John Scott of Stewartfield and on his death she lastly married John Strother Ker of Littledean.

Works and philosophy

*Charity: The End of Commandment (1731) *Sermon for the Societies of Reformation of Manners in London (1732) *Editor of

Henry Scougal Henry Scougal (1650–1678) was a Scottish theologian, minister and author. Henry Scougal was the second son of Patrick Scougal and Margaret Wemys. His father was Bishop of Aberdeen for more than 20 years. From his infancy, Scougal was raised ...

's Life of God in the Soul of Man (1739) *Selected Sermons of Dr Benjamin Whichcote (1742) *Ernesti's Preface to

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...

(1743) *Public Virtue Recommended (1746) *Volusenus de Animi Tranquillitate (1751) *Discourses on Several Subjects (1753) *Essay on the Indispenseable Necessity of a Holy and Good Life to the Happiness of Heaven (1753) He is believed by most historians, to have written ''A Letter from a Gentleman'' (1745), an important criticism of

David Hume David Hume (; born David Home; 7 May 1711 NS (26 April 1711 OS) – 25 August 1776) Cranston, Maurice, and Thomas Edmund Jessop. 2020 999br>David Hume" ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 18 May 2020. was a Scottish Enlightenment philo ...

. He was a critic of

George Berkeley George Berkeley (; 12 March 168514 January 1753) – known as Bishop Berkeley (Bishop of Cloyne of the Anglican Church of Ireland) – was an Anglo-Irish philosopher whose primary achievement was the advancement of a theory he called "immate ...

and David Hume. Apart from his defence of religious toleration and liberal political philosophy, Wishart's writings were heavily oriented toward general issues of moral philosophy.Wishart, Baxter and Hume's Letter from a Gentleman Paul Russell, Hume Studies Volume XXIII, Number 2 (November, 1997) 245-276

Notes

*M. A. Stewart
'Wishart, William (1691/2–1753)'
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wishart, William (secundus) Principals of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 18th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland 1690s births 1753 deaths