The head of Rev David Dickson by Alexander Handyside Ritchie

David Dickson (1780 – 28 July 1842) was a Scottish Presbyterian minister and writer.

Life

He was born in 1780 at Libberton,

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark (; ), is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland. The county is no l ...

, the parish where his father Rev David Dickson (1753-1820) was minister. He was educated at the parish school of

Bothkennar Bothkennar is a quoad sacra parish in the civil parish of Grangemouth in the Falkirk (council area), Falkirk council area of Scotland. Topography The parish includes part of Carronshore in the south-west, Skinflats in the south-central area, a ...

. In 1792 the family moved to Edinburgh and after several assistant minister positions his father got a post as minister of the New North Church (contained within

St Giles Cathedral St Giles' Cathedral (), or the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Old Town of Edinburgh. The current building was begun in the 14th century and extended until the early 16th century; significant alteratio ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

and the family relocated, allowing Dickson greater ease to study at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. In December 1801 he was licensed to preach in the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

by the Presbytery of Edinburgh, and appointed early in 1802 to the Chapel of Ease at

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

. In December 1802 King George III presented him to the town council of Edinburgh and consequently, in May 1803, he was chosen collegiate minister of

St Cuthbert's Church, Edinburgh The Parish Church of St Cuthbert is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in central Edinburgh. Probably founded in the 7th century, the church once covered an extensive parish around the Old Town of Edinburgh, burgh of Edinburgh. The church ...

in place of Rev William Paul.''Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae''; by Hew Scott Until the death of Henry Moncrieff-Wellwood in 1827, Dickson was made working under him. In 1828 Moncreiff was replaced by

John Paul John Paul may refer to: People Given name * John Paul (given name), a list of bearers of the name, and equivalent names in other languages * Pope John Paul I (1912–1978) * Pope John Paul II (1920–2005) Given name and surname *John Paul (actor) ...

and Dickson remained under the latter until his own death. However, this "secondary" position did not diminish the public appreciation of his role. In 1824 the University of Edinburgh conferred on him an honorary

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

(DD). He had some reputation as a Hebrew scholar and his sermons were plain. He avoided mixing in the doctrinal disputes which culminated in the

Disruption of 1843 The Disruption of 1843, also known as the Great Disruption, was a schism in 1843 in which 450 evangelical ministers broke away from the Church of Scotland to form the Free Church of Scotland. The main conflict was over whether the Church of Sc ...

of the Scottish church. On the occasion of

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

's funeral he was chosen to hold the service in the house at Abbotsford. He was secretary of the Scottish Missionary Society for many years. Dickson died at West Kirk manse on 28 July 1842, and was buried in St Cuthbert's Church, where a monument was erected to his memory. The statue of Dickson is by

Alexander Handyside Ritchie Alexander Handyside Ritchie (16 April 1804 – 24 April 1870) was a Scottish sculptor born in Musselburgh. Life Ritchie was born in Musselburgh in 1804, the son of James Ritchie, a local brickmaker and ornamental plasterer, and his wife Euphem ...

.''Buildings of Scotland: Edinburgh''; by Gifford, McWilliam and Walker He is buried in a vault on the raised ground to the south-west. His position at St Cuthbert's was filled by Rev James Veitch.

Works

Dickson wrote articles in the ''

Edinburgh Encyclopædia The ''Edinburgh Encyclopædia'' is an encyclopaedia in 18 volumes, printed and published by William Blackwood and edited by David Brewster between 1808 and 1830. In competition with the Edinburgh-published ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', the ''Ed ...

'' and in the ''Edinburgh Christian Instructor'' and other magazines. He published: * ''The Influence of Learning on Religion'', 1814. * A small volume of sermons, 1818. * ''Discourses, Doctrinal and Practical'', a collection of his homilies, 1857. * Five separate sermons (1806–31). He edited: * ''Memoir of Miss Woodbury'', 1826; * Rev. Walter Foggo Ireland's sermons, 1829; and * lectures and sermons by the Rev. George Bell Brand, 1841.

Family

In August 1808 Dickson married Janet Jobson (1783-1878), daughter of James Jobson of

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

, and together they had nine children, six of whom survived to adulthood: *David Dickson (b. 1810) *James Jobson Dickson (1811-1891) an accountant in Edinburgh *John Wardrobe Dickson (1813-1818) *Elizabeth Crawford Dickson (b. 1815) married Dr

John George Pack John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

Bathgate Bathgate ( or , ) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, west of Livingston, Scotland, Livingston and adjacent to the M8 motorway (Scotland), M8 motorway. Nearby towns are Linlithgow, Livingston, and West Calder. A number of villages fall under ...

*Charles Dickson (1817-1857) an advocate *Christian (1819-1820) died in infancy *Jane Dickson (1820-1912) *Christian Helen Dickson (1822-1902) *Margaret Ann (1825-1826) died in infancy

References

* ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Dickson, David 1780 births 1842 deaths 19th-century ministers of the Church of Scotland 19th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers