Alexander Forrester (minister)

Alexander Forrester (1611–1686) was a Scottish minister of the 17th century.

Alexander Forrester
Skull and Crossbones from the Forrester Enclosure of Greyfriars Kirkyard.[1]
Personal
Born1611
Died26 May 1686(1686-05-26) (aged 74–75)
ReligionChristianity
SchoolPresbyterianism
Doorway to the tomb of Alexander Forrester, Greyfriars Kirkyard

Life

He was born in 1611, son of Duncan Forrester and his wife, Margaret Ramsay. He was descended from the Forresters of Garden.[2] He graduated with an M.A. degree from St Andrews University in 1631.[3] He had been "ane conformist in Ireland, preached three quarters of a year in Edinburgh, and been two years with the armie". He was proposed for the parish of Livingston in 1646 but settled in the parish of St Mungo in Dumfriesshire in 1650.[4][5] Refusing to conform to Episcopacy in 1662, he was confined to the parish. He was apprehended for holding a conventicle. He acted as clerk to a General Meeting of Presbyterian ministers in Edinburgh, 24 May 1676.

He was apprehended while preaching the Gospel in Fife, was imprisoned in St Andrews, and, on 3 August 1676, sentenced to the Bass. Released on giving caution to appear when called, a paper found on his person revealed that on 25 May 1676, fifty-three outed ministers met for conference at Edinburgh, and took measures to maintain correspondence throughout the church in the wilderness, and to have young men brought forward for and sent out in the work of the ministry.[6] As Mr Forrester would reveal nothing as to place or persons, he was anew sentenced to imprisonment in the Edinburgh Tolbooth "in a chamber by himself, that no person have access to him except with meat and drink, and that he be not allowed the use of pen, ink, or paper."[7]

He was examined by the Privy Council of Scotland on 8 February 1677, indicted upon the more serious charge of "sedition" — which, however was entirely groundless — and adjudged to imprisonment in the Tolbooth of Edinburgh.[8] A lengthy quotation of the Council's minutes is given by Anderson.[9]

He was imprisoned on the Bass Rock on 3 August 1677. Having been liberated, he died at Edinburgh on 28 May 1686.[3] He is buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard in a vault on the main south wall.

Family

He married Christian Macneil, daughter of Torquil Macneil, and had children —

Bibliography
  • Dumfries and Linlithgow Presbytery Regs.[3]
  • Dumfries Tests.
  • Edinburgh Reg. (Bur.)
  • Wodrow's History, ii., 355 [where he is called Andrew]
  • Monteith's Theater of Mortality, i.
  • Bass Bock
  • Greyfriars Graveyard

References
  1. Golledge, Charlotte (15 October 2018). Greyfriars Graveyard. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 9781445688190. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  2. Monteith, Robert (1834). Collection of epitaphs and monumental inscriptions, chiefly in Scotland. Glasgow: Printed for D. Macvean. p. 13. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  3. Scott, Hew (1917). Fasti ecclesiae scoticanae; the succession of ministers in the Church of Scotland from the reformation. Vol. 2. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd. p. 221. Retrieved 15 March 2019.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. Crichton, Andrew (1826). Memoirs of the Rev. John Blackader (2nd ed.). London: Charles Tait. p. 343. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  5. "Kirkbank, Old St Mungo's Parish Church". CANMORE. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
  6. Wodrow, Robert (1832). The history of the sufferings of the Church of Scotland from the Restoration to the Revolution. Vol. 2. Glasgow: Blackie. p. 355. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  7. Porteous, James Moir (1881). The Scottish Patmos. A standing testimony to patriotic Christian devotion. Paisley: J. and R. Parlane. pp. 48–49. Retrieved 3 March 2019.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  8. Dickson, John (1899). Emeralds chased in Gold; or, the Islands of the Forth: their story, ancient and modern. [With illustrations.]. Edinburgh and London: Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier. pp. 210–211. Retrieved 3 March 2019.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  9. M'Crie, Thomas, D.D. the younger (1847). The Bass rock: Its civil and ecclesiastic history. Edinburgh: J. Greig & Son. pp. 106–109. Retrieved 11 February 2019.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. Scott, Hew (1923). Fasti ecclesiae scoticanae; the succession of ministers in the Church of Scotland from the reformation. Vol. 4. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd. pp. 324.
  11. Brown, James (1867). The epitaphs and monumental inscriptions in Greyfriars Churchyard, Edinburgh. Collected by James Brown ... with an introd. and notes. Edinburgh: J. M. Miller. p. 241. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
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