Thomas Moffat Murchison (1907-1984) was a

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 Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...

minister and

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well ...

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researc ...

Early life

He was born 27 July 1907, in Glasgow and brought up on the family croft in Skye. He was educated at Kylerhea Primary School,

Portree High School Portree High School ( Gaelic: ') is a state co-educational comprehensive school in Portree, Isle of Skye in Scotland. , the school enrols 490 pupils and employs 80 teachers and support staff. The school's catchment area draws from 15 primary sch ...

and

Trinity College, Glasgow Trinity College, Glasgow, Scotland, is the Church of Scotland's College at the University of Glasgow. It provides special supervision of candidates for the ministry through a Principal (appointed by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland ...

Career

In 1958 he was a Bard of

An Comunn Gàidhealach An Comunn Gàidhealach (; literally "The Gaelic Association"), commonly known as An Comunn, is a Scottish organisation that supports and promotes the Scottish Gaelic language and Scottish Gaelic culture and history at local, national and internat ...

. He was Minister of Glenelg from 1932 to 1937; St Columba Copland Road Church

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

from 1937 to 1966; and of St Columba Summertown Church,

from then until 1972. He was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland from 1969 to 1970. He was the first Gaelic-speaking moderator since 1948 when Rev Dr Alexander Macdonald held the position. He expressed concerns about support for crofters and the importance of developing the Western parts of the Highlands. He died on 9 January 1984.

Personal life

Murchiston married Mary Black Morton Philp (1913-2010) in 1940. He had two daughters, Anne and Fiona, and a son, Andrew.

References

1907 births People educated at Portree High School Alumni of the University of Glasgow 20th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 1984 deaths {{Christian-clergy-stub