Researching Rev. Dr. Thomas ROSS, Clachan Lochbroom.....

[scml]

Would anyone have any information on Rev. Dr Thomas Ross. He was the minister of the Clachan Lochbroom Free Church of Scotland from 1808 until his death in July of 1843.
I am needing to find out if he had a daughter named Margaret ROSS who was born on 10 Nov 1796 in Rogart, Sutherlandshire. On her birth records her father is listed as Thomas Ross, no Rev or Dr. Margaret was living in Ullapool, Lochbroom when she married in 1822 to Kenneth McLean. I am trying to sort out if there is any relationship here.
Any help or ideas would be great.

Sandy

[DavidWW]

Would anyone have any information on Rev. Dr Thomas Ross. He was the minister of the Clachan Lochbroom Free Church of Scotland from 1808 until his death in July of 1843.
I am needing to find out if he had a daughter named Margaret ROSS who was born on 10 Nov 1796 in Rogart, Sutherlandshire. On her birth records her father is listed as Thomas Ross, no Rev or Dr. Margaret was living in Ullapool, Lochbroom when she married in 1822 to Kenneth McLean. I am trying to sort out if there is any relationship here.
Any help or ideas would be great.

Sandy

Hi Sandy

There's a slight problem here with the dates, since the Free Kirk of Scotland didn't come into existence until 1843 !

That's not to say that there weren't a number of secession churches which had broken away from the presbyterian Church of Scotland ("The Auld Kirk") prior to that date, - there were indeed quite a few, and the basic problem that eventually led to the 1843 "Disruption" had been festering away for several decades prior to 1843 ............

Genealogically, an ancestor who was a minister is an advantage as they are generally well recorded in genealogical terms with reference to parents, as well as issue, and even spouses of issue and their issue .........

See http://talkingscot.com/forum/viewtopic. ... ight=fasti

David

[scml]

Hi David,
yes, you are right, I should have phrased it as "now known as the Free Church of Scotland", as Rev Thomas Ross died during the change. Below is a part of the article posted on the Ullapool site.
I am not sure if he is my 3rd gt grandmothers father, though the name, dates and place fit. I need to try and confirm is he is her actual father. I have ordered Margarets birth records from on Scotlands People, so they should arrive in a week or so, and I am hopeing it will have his name and profession entered on it. Fingers crossed.
Where should I search to find the records of Rev Ross? Would his history of service be at the National Archives? and would I be able to get a copy of this? If you can point me in the right direction, I will go hunting

Thanks for your time.
Sandy

Copyright K J B S MacLeod : extracts from "Lochbroom Through the Centuries"

In 1843 on the formation of the Church of Scotland Free - or as it shortly after became known the Free Church of Scotland - the parish church was located at Clachan, Lochbroom with the ailing Rev. Dr. Thomas Ross as its pastor. Dr, Ross was too ill to attend the historic General Assembly where the Disruption took place but he was able to append his signature to the all-important deed in which he separated himself from the established Church. One of the leading Gaelic scholars of his day, Dr. Ross had been the minister since 1808 but his life was ebbing to a close and he was unable to preach as a minister of the Free Church. He died in July 1843 just as legal steps were being taken to eject him from the manse. Dr. Ross had during his lifetime served the parish well and in addition to being the author of the Lochbroom portion of the Second Statistical Account had been one of the editors of the Gaelic translations of the scriptures for the SPCK. In 1820 his translation of the Bible into Gaelic was rejected by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in favour of a committee approach in which various people translated various parts. Dr. Ross' valuable contribution to the world of Gaelic scholarship seems to have been mislaid.

[DavidWW]

For others' information, SPCK = Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, - see SPCK at http://www.spck.org.uk/ ...............

David

[AndrewP]

The Statistical Account that he wrote is available online at http://edina.ac.uk/stat-acc-scot/

According to that account, the OPRs in that parish are all from Dr Ross's time in office onwards.
"There are no parochial registers within this parish further back than the year 1808,- the date of the present incumbent's induction."

Further on, the account tells that there were no other denominations of church in the parish. All people were considered as being of the Established Church. That was dated in 1835 - the Disruption was yet to come.

All the best,

AndrewP

[Thrall]

For others' information, SPCK = Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, - see SPCK at http://www.spck.org.uk/ ...............

But see also
http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/OR ... 0986544223

where it seems that the Scottish society was "propagating", whereas the Anglicans were "promoting".

Hope no one feels I´m splitting hairs........
All in a supposedly good cause, we´re led to believe.

Thrall

[scml]

Thank you all for putting up these sites for me to have a look at. It seems I have a bit of reading to do All very interesting.

I have had a quick browse through the Statistical Accounts ( will read it through as soon as I can) and in there it has Rev. Thomas Ross mentioning his brother in-law Kenneth McKenzie Esq. and that his father is George McKenzie. So now I can do a search for his sister and perhaps find more family members.

I have downloaded Margaret Ross's death records and it has her fathers profession as a Catechist. So do you think this would be the same gentleman. What would be the difference between a Catechist, a Reverand and a Pastor, which is how he is referred to in the article from "Lochbroom Through the Centuries." Are all these titles basicly the same thing? And also, (and please excuse my ignorance) but what would the Dr. stand for. I have noticed a few Rev. Dr. so and so, what type of studies would they have done to receive the title of Dr.

Must go and have another look through these sites some more, thanks again to everyone for your input.

Sandy

[LesleyB]

Hi Sandy

what would the Dr. stand for. I have noticed a few Rev. Dr. so and so, what type of studies would they have done to receive the title of Dr.

My 3rd great granduncle was the Reverend Dr.James Duff McCulloch D.D.(1836 - 1926) Free Church minister and Principal of the Free Church College, Edinburgh from 1904, until I think, his death.

As far as I'm aware the "Dr" would refer in his case to the degree -Doctor of Divinity, but I don't know enough about the levels of degree available to ministers - perhaps there are other degrees within this area of study that "Dr" would be used for? DD appears to be an honorary title these days, not sure if that was the case then:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Divinity
His obituary mentions that he "took University and theological courses in Edinburgh" - it doesn't actually state "degree" so maybe the only doctorate he had was an honorary title?

It might be worth getting in touch with the Free Church College - I have been there to see the 1904 portrait they have of James Duff McCulloch. They have various books listing brief histories of their ministers..
http://www.freescotcoll.ac.uk/

Best wishes
Lesley

[Russell]

Hi Sandy

You asked about Pastor and Catechists.

I haven't found the term Pastor used much in Scotland.
During the Seccessionist years if a parish did not have a minister they would appoint someone who had a good background education who would interrogate the children in their religious education, which was, after all, the sole purpose of giving them education!! He was the Catechist
A reader would be appointed to read the scripture in church but was not qualified to officiate for a full service.
Qualified ministers who left the Established church would hold their services in the open air but they, of course, had no stipend and depended on the parishioners who had broken away from the Established Church with them for financial support.
In my village (Kilbarchan) the congregation provided their Seccessionist minister with a mobile pulpit which looked like a sentry box so that he, and the precious Bible would be protected from the elements.
Its a fascinating, if convoluted, period of History!

Russell

[scml]

Dear Leslie and Russell,
You both are full of wonderful information it certainly does sound like a very interesting time in history.
I have had a look at the college site Lesley, and have emailed them to see if they can help out with any of my research. So now to wait and see what they can tell me. It says the college began in 1843 which is the year Rev Thomas Ross passed away, so perhaps they may not have details on him, but I have my fingers crossed.
I should imagine that records would have been kept of all ministers, so perhaps they can direct me to where I can find his.
So I will let you know how I go

Thanks again,
Sandy