James Struthers (1770–1807) was a late 18th century Scottish minister renowned for his orations during the Scottish Enlightenment in

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 ...

Life

He was born at Glassford in Lanarkshire on 31 October 1770. He studied at Glasgow University. He was licensed to preach around 1788. In the summer of 1791, aged 20, he was ordained as minister of the Relief Church on College Street in Edinburgh (just south of Old College) in place of Rev James Baine. In October 1793 he preached against the immorality of Rev David Gellatly of Haddington. In 1805 he is listed as an Extraordinary Director of the Beneficent Society of Edinburgh alongside George Baird (Principal of Edinburgh University) and Adam Rolland. He lived his final years in a flat at St Patrick Square in south Edinburgh. He died on 13 July 1807 and in buried 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, Edinburgh, Old Town, adjacent to George Heriot's School. Burials have been taking place since the late 1 ...

. The grave lies midway along the main east path.

Family

Struthers married a Miss Syme. They had six children but only two survived to adulthood: *Rev James Syme Struthers minister of Georgetown in

Demerara Demerara (; , ) is a historical region in the Guianas, on the north coast of South America, now part of the country of Guyana. It was a colony of the Dutch West India Company between 1745 and 1792 and a colony of the Dutch state from 1792 unti ...

. *Esther Crawford White Struthers (d. 1870) married Rev George Burns of

Tweedsmuir Tweedsmuir () is a village and civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish in Tweeddale, the Scottish Borders Council district, southeastern Scotland. Geography The village is set in a valley, with the rolling hills and burns on both sides, cover ...

*John Pitcairn Struthers died 1814 in St Andrews Struthers' widow married Robert Briggs MD (1768-1840) Professor of Medicine at St Andrews University.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Struthers, James 1770 births 1807 deaths People from Lanarkshire People of the Scottish Enlightenment Burials at Greyfriars Kirkyard Ministers of the Relief Church