James Brown (c. 1734 – 9 November 1791) was a clergyman in the

Scottish Episcopal Church The Scottish Episcopal Church ( gd, Eaglais Easbaigeach na h-Alba; sco, Scots Episcopal(ian) Kirk) is the ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion in Scotland. A continuation of the Church of Scotland as intended by King James VI, and ...

, notable as one of a few Jacobite dissenters who refused to abandon their allegiance to the

House of Stuart The House of Stuart, originally spelt Stewart, was a royal house of Scotland, England, Ireland and later Great Britain. The family name comes from the office of High Steward of Scotland, which had been held by the family progenitor Walter fi ...

when directed to do so in 1788.

Life

James Brown was born around 1734. The son of a Jacobite farmer who died in the

Battle of Culloden The Battle of Culloden (; gd, Blàr Chùil Lodair) was the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising of 1745. On 16 April 1746, the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force under Prince Wi ...

in 1746, he retained the same Jacobite allegiances throughout his life. He married Helen Taylor, daughter of an

Episcopalian Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the l ...

minister, and they had a son,

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, who would become a notable

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

, giving his name to his discovery of

Brownian motion Brownian motion, or pedesis (from grc, πήδησις "leaping"), is the random motion of particles suspended in a medium (a liquid or a gas). This pattern of motion typically consists of random fluctuations in a particle's position insi ...

. Brown was minister at Montrose in 1788 when

Charles Edward Stuart Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart (20 December 1720 – 30 January 1788) was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, grandson of James II and VII, and the Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, Scotland and ...

died. The Scottish Episcopal Church had long supported the

, but found it impossible to support Charles' heir, his brother

Henry Benedict Stuart Henry Benedict Thomas Edward Maria Clement Francis Xavier Stuart, Cardinal Duke of York (6 March 1725 – 13 July 1807) was a Roman Catholic cardinal, as well as the fourth and final Jacobite heir to publicly claim the thrones of Great Brit ...

, who was a

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. Accordingly, the bishops of the Scottish Episcopal Church met and agreed to recognise

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 ...

. 25 May 1788 was set as the day upon which services were to include prayers for King George III for the first time, and on that day the directive was followed by all but two ministers, Brown and Charles Rose, the

Bishop of Dunblane The Bishop of Dunblane or Bishop of Strathearn was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Dunblane or Strathearn, one of medieval Scotland's thirteen bishoprics. It was based at Dunblane Cathedral, now a parish church of the Church of Scotland ...

and

Dunkeld Dunkeld (, sco, Dunkell, from gd, Dùn Chailleann, "fort of the Caledonians") is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The location of a historic cathedral, it lies on the north bank of the River Tay, opposite Birnam. Dunkeld lies close to t ...

. Around 1790, Brown moved to

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 ...

, where he became pastor to the remaining Jacobite dissenters. On presenting himself to the old and increasingly senile Rose, he was consecrated as a bishop. When questioned later, Rose denied having done so, suggesting that perhaps his sister had. Rose had no authority to consecrate Brown, as the

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

required no fewer than three consecrating bishops, although the nonjuring church in England had relied on such consecrations. The Episcopal Bishops were furious at Brown's consecration and declared it null and void. Some accused Brown of taking advantage of Rose's senility in order to advance his own position, but it is equally likely that Rose was perfectly aware of what he was doing and, as a strong Jacobite, would have desired the non-juring laity to be catered for. The following year Rose died, making Brown the last remaining minister to the Jacobite dissenters.

Succession

Brown ordained

Donald Macintosh Donald Macintosh (1743–1808) was a Scottish clergyman, a nonjuror of the Scottish Episcopal Church, known as a scholar of Scottish Gaelic. Life Born at Orchilmore, near Killiecrankie, Perthshire, Macintosh was son of a cooper and crofter. Af ...

as deacon in 1789 and later priest. Macintosh then continued the ministry for some years, living to 1808.

References

* * * " The Robert Brown memorial" in ''Journal of Botany, British and Foreign'' 34.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, James 18th-century Scottish people 1734 births 1791 deaths Scottish Episcopalian clergy Scottish Jacobites