Jan Stewart has asked me offline if the manse would necessarily be occupied by the minister.
A manse was, as far as I knew, always the residence of a man of religion. There are, for instance, remnants of manses associated with Elgin Cathedral that were occupied by priests or monks. Whether they actually used the word manse I cannot say.
The Oxford English Dictionary, however, does give the meaning of
The principal house of an estate; a mansion but states that this is an obsolete usage. The usual meaning is
Originally: an ecclesiastical residence (parochial or collegiate). Now: spec. a house allocated to or occupied by a minister of certain Nonconformist or non-episcopal Churches, esp. the Church of Scotland.
Chambers Dictionary defines a manse as an ecclesiastical residence, especially the residence of a Church of Scotland minister.
In the Presbyterian churches in Scotland, including the Church of Scotland, a congregation was pretty much obliged to provide a manse for the minister and his family to live in. I, and I think almost every Scot, would automatically infer that a manse is the house where the minister lives. So I think the answer to your question is 'Yes'. It would certainly not be occupied by anyone else as long as there were a congregation and a minister.
I had a look in the Valuation Rolls at
www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk and the Manse of Edrom was always listed as occupied by a minister
1865 - Rev James Wilson
1875 - Rev George Gibson Gunn
1885 to 1907 - Rev Macduff Simpson
1916 to 1940 - Rev John Mackechnie
1941 - Rev James Scott
https://archive.org/details/fastiecclesiaesc02scot/page/42/mode/1up?view=theater contains brief information about all the known ministers of Edrom. Note that Rev James Wilson was the son of William Wilson, and that William Wilson, father, was living in the manse with Rev James in 1861 and 1871.
Have you looked at the birth certificate of George R, born 1870 whose parents were George Renny and Mary Ellen Wilson? Was Mary Ellen perhaps a relative of the Rev James Wilson?
