How do you trace a clergyman from Glasgow?

[Pilgrims Progress]

Hi Roots chatterers, 

Wondering if anyone would be kind enough to advise how I would go about tracing a clergyman's records from Glasgow? 

George Hay born 1843 Bodnamuir, Morayshire was listed as a missionary in the 1881 census of Glasgow-   Source Citation: Parish: Glasgow Barony; ED: 22; Page: 2; Line: 19; Roll: cssct1881_235.

By 1883 he had emigrated to the West Coast of New Zealand where he became the Minister of St Andrews Presbyterian Church, Kumara. Apparently he had supplied the church there with testimonials and certificates from the Glasgow Faculties of Arts and Divinity.

Would be extremely grateful for any help, advice or suggestions,

Many Thanks,

Pilgrims Progress 

[Pejic]

While trying to help you I came across the attached in the New Zealand Tablet of 15th November 1878. It is not clear from the context where the Glasgow in which the meeting was held was.

[BumbleB]

As the Presbytery of Glasgow is still in existence, it might be an idea to contact them in the first instance.  They have a website www.presbyteryofglasgow.org.uk which gives contact details.

[Pilgrims Progress]

Dear BumbleB and Pejic, 

What a lovely surprise to find your replies in the "in box" this morning. I appreciate your help and suggestions very much.

Have emailed the Presbytery of Glasgow as you suggested. My fingers are crossed.

Regarding the NZ Tablet of 1878 - this has thrown a spanner in the works. I had thought the first time George Hay came to NZ was in 1883 so I will have to trawl the NZ papers again for an earlier period. There were several Rev George Hay's in Australia in that period so it is possible of course that NZ had more than one too.

Once again- very grateful to Pejic and BumbleB and will keep you posted if there are more developments,

Warm Regards,

Pilgrims Progress 

[philipsearching]

Regarding the NZ Tablet of 1878 - this has thrown a spanner in the works. I had thought the first time George Hay came to NZ was in 1883 so I will have to trawl the NZ papers again for an earlier period. There were several Rev George Hay's in Australia in that period so it is possible of course that NZ had more than one too.

The 1878 article refers to a meeting held in Glasgow, Scotland (if you look at the webpage you will see it is followed by an article on Germany), so it's international rather than local news.

http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=NZT18781115.2.2

All the best
Philip

[Pilgrims Progress]

Hi Phillip, 

Thank you so much for clarifying this reference for me. I had believed the "NZ Tablet" was some sort of Presbyterian Church Periodical - a salutary warning not to jump to the wrong conclusion. You answered a question that I should have asked.

You have very kindly helped with another piece of the puzzle.

Many thanks,

Warm Regards,

Pilgrims Progress     

[isk]

Hello Pilgrims Progress

Can I suggest the Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae which lists all Church of Scotland Ministers, up to the present.  It gives information on their ages, families and their various charges.  It is available on line through the National Library of Scotland or there are copies held in libraries.  It is a fascinating and informative set of books.

Hope this helps

Isk

[jennywren001]

Hi,
There's an interesting piece in the Glasgow PO Directory for 79/80 about the mission.  It mentions George Hay and his qualifications.

https://archive.org/stream/postofficeannual187980gla#page/n21/mode/2up

Jen

[Forfarian]

Wondering if anyone would be kind enough to advise how I would go about tracing a clergyman's records from Glasgow? 

It depends entirely on which denomination he belonged to. There are umpteen presbyterian denominations, each of which kept its own records.

See http://website.lineone.net/~davghalgh/churchhistory.html to get some idea of the complications. Note that this contains only the presbyterian denominations, though as your man was a presbyterian missionary he was almost certainly affiliated to one of those.

All of those denominations would have had their own hierarchy of kirk session, presbytery, synod and general assembly. The Church of Scotland's Presbytery of Glasgow will not have records of a minister affiliated to the Free Church of Scotland's Presbytery of Glasgow, and vice versa.

The first port of call is Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae, as already suggested. This contains brief biographies of all the ministers of the Church of Scotland.

As he supplied testimonials from a Faculty of Arts and Divinity, it sounds as if he studied at a university. The universities do generally keep records of their students, but you need to know which university. The University of Glasgow has a web site listing all its graduates up to 1914: http://www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk/search/. The University Archives also have records of students who, for whatever reason, did not progress to a degree. Be aware, however, that the Free Churches had their own colleges for training ministers. Also, he may have taken a first degree at another university before going on to study divinity. It would be worth checking the printed 'Roll of Graduates of the University of Aberdeen' which is available in various libraries. If you draw blanks in both of those, you could contact the archives of the Universities of Edinburgh and St Andrews.

If it was the United Free Church, there is a history online at http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/robert-small/history-of-the-congregations-of-the-united-presbyterian-church-from-1733-to-1900-ala-402/page-45-history-of-the-congregations-of-the-united-presbyterian-church-from-1733-to-1900-ala-402.shtml

I discovered when trying to track a minister of the Free Church of Scotland who also emigrated (to Australia) that the Free Church archives had no useful information, but if George Hay belonged to the Free Church, there is a small chance that they might have something on him.

Although the 1881 census doesn't say what denomination he was affiliated to, it is possible that his marriage certificate might say so. If you don't have a copy of that, you can get one from www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk at modest cost.