| Administrative History | Born in Pitsligo, Aberdeenshire, in 1803, James Robertson was educated at local parish schools and at Marischal College, Aberdeen, where he studied mathematics and graduated M.A. in 1820. He then studied divinity, and was licenced by the Presbytery of Deer in 1825. He was appointed as a schoolmaster at Pitsligo until a living should present itself, but instead became tutor to the Duke of Gordon’s family and, in 1829, headmaster of Gordon’s Hospital school in Aberdeen. He was at last appointed to the church at Ellon, Aberdeenshire, in 1832, and remained there till 1844, except for a brief period of suspension after holding communion with the deposed ministers of Strathbogie. He used his time well at Ellon, contributing the parish’s entry to the New Statistical Account of Scotland and studying soil chemistry. In 1843 he was granted the chair of Divinity and Church History at Edinburgh University, and in 1856 was Moderator of the General Assembly. He is best known for his work as Convenor of the Committee for the Endowment of Chapels of Ease, but he also wrote and published many works, including The British Constitution and Parliamentary Reform (1831), Appeal for the Advancement of Female Education in India (1846) and Remarks and Suggestions Relative to the Proposed Endowment Scheme (1846). |