Robert Smith Candlish
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Robert Smith Candlish (23 March 1806 – 19 October 1873) was a Scottish minister who was a leading figure in the
Life
He was born at 11 West Richmond Street[2] in Edinburgh, the son of James Candlish (originally McCandlish, 1759-1806),[3] a lecturer in medicine and friend of Robert Burns. James died soon after Robert was born. He and his siblings were raised by his mother, Jane Smith (1768–1854).[4] She moved to Glasgow soon after her husband's death and survived by running a boarding house at 49 Virginia Street.[5]
In 1820, he began studying divinity at
In 1829, Candlish entered upon his life's work, having been licensed to preach during the summer vacation of the previous year. After short assistant pastorates at St Andrew's Church, Glasgow, and then the parish church of
In 1840, he was living at 9 Randolph Crescent in Edinburgh's West End, a huge terraced townhouse.[10]
Candlish took an interest in ecclesiastical questions, and he soon became involved in the struggle which was then agitating the
Following the Disruption, Candlish was one of the Free Churchmen who spoke in England, explaining the reason why so many had left the Established Church.[12] He was actively engaged at one time or other in nearly all the various schemes of the church, but particularly the education committee, of which he was convener from 1846 to 1863, and in the unsuccessful negotiations for union among the non-established
In 1841, the government nominated Candlish to the newly founded chair of Biblical criticism in the University of Edinburgh.[15] However, owing to the opposition of Lord Aberdeen,[16][17] the presentation was cancelled. In 1847 Candlish, who had received the degree of D.D. from Princeton, New Jersey, in 1841, was chosen by the Assembly of the Free Church to succeed Chalmers in the chair of divinity in the New College, Edinburgh. After partially fulfilling the duties of the office for one session, he was led to resume the charge of St George's, the clergyman who had been chosen by the congregation as his successor having died before entering on his work.[8]
In 1851, he established a Gaelic Church on Cambridge Street.[18] In 1862 he succeeded William Cunningham as principal of New College with the understanding that he should still retain his position as minister of St George's.[8]
Death
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/The_grave_of_Rev_Robert_Candlish%2C_Old_Calton_Cemetery%2C_Edinburgh.jpg/250px-The_grave_of_Rev_Robert_Candlish%2C_Old_Calton_Cemetery%2C_Edinburgh.jpg)
Candlish died at home, 52 Melville Street[19] in Edinburgh in 1873.
As the Free Church lost the right to burial in the traditional parish burial grounds, Candlish is buried in the non-denominational Old Calton Burial Ground. He lies in the southern extension, just south-east of the Martyr's Monument.
Family
He married 6 January 1835, Jessie (died 16 September 1894), daughter of Walter Brock and Janet Crawford, and had issue —
- James Smith Candlish, D.D., minister at Logie-Almond and Aberdeen, Professor in Free Church College, Glasgow, 1872–97, born 14 December 1835, died 7 March 1897
- Jessie, born 14 January 1837, died 29 January 1893 (married 1865, William Anderson of Glentarkie)
- Jane Smith, born 14 June 1838, died 30 March 1840
- Walter, born 10 August 1839, died 20 February 1840
- Elizabeth Smith, born 28 December 1840 (married 1863, Archibald Henderson, D.D., United Free Church min. at Crieff)
- Agnes, born 3 August 1842, died 24 April 1845
- Robert Smith, marine engineer, born 21 April 1844, died 20 May 1887
- Margaret Charlotte, born 28 January 1846, died 16 April 1899
- John Bogle, insurance agent, Australia, born 2 November 1847
- Mary Ross, born 9 June 1851, died 30 September 1866.[20]
Several of their children died in childhood.[21]
Works
Candlish made a number of contributions to theological literature. In 1842 he published the first volume of his Contributions towards the Exposition of the
- Eleven single Sermons (Edinburgh, 1834, et seq.)
- Contributions towards the Exposition of the Book of Genesis, 3 vols. (Edinburgh, 1842–52)
- The Word of God the Instrument of the Propagation of the Gospel (1843)
- Scripture Characters and Miscellanies (Edinburgh, 1850)
- Reason and Revelation (Edinburgh, 1854)
- Man's Right to the Sabbath (Edinburgh, 1856)
- Life in a Risen Saviour (Edinburgh, 1858)
- The Atonement (Edinburgh, 1860)
- Two Great Commandments (Edinburgh, 1860)
- The Fatherhood of God (Edinburgh, 1865)
- Sermons, memoir (Edinburgh, 1874)
- Discourses on the Ephesians (Edinburgh, 1875)
- numerous pamphlets, etc.[20]
References
Citations
- ^ Wylie 1881.
- ^ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1805/6
- ^ Lindsay, Maurice (2002) [1959]. "Candlish, James (1759–1806)". The Burns Encyclopedia (3rd (online) ed.). Retrieved 5 September 2023 – via RobertBurns.org.
- ^ Inscription on grave of Rev Robert Candlish
- ^ Glasgow Post Office Directory 1816
- ^ Wilson 1880.
- ^ Bayne 1893, p. 146.
- ^ a b c d e f g Chisholm 1911.
- ^ Walker, Norman L (1895). Chapters from the history of the Free church of Scotland. Edinburgh; London: Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier. p. 21. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
- ^ Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1840-41
- ^ Bayne 1893, p. 136.
- ^ Brown, Thomas (1883). Annals of the disruption. Edinburgh: Macniven & Wallace. pp. 525–526. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
- ^ Walker, Norman L (1895). Chapters from the history of the Free church of Scotland. Edinburgh; London: Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier. pp. 226–270. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
- ^ Ewing, William Annals of the Free Church
- ^ Walker, Norman L (1895). Chapters from the history of the Free church of Scotland. Edinburgh; London: Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier. pp. 101–102. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
- ^ Hansard, House of Lords 22 March 1841.
- ^ Hansard, House of Lords 29 April 1841.
- ISBN 0-08-036587-6
- ^ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1873
- ^ a b Scott 1915.
- ^ Inscription on grave of Robert Candlish
Sources
- Bayne, Peter (1893). The Free Church of Scotland : her origin, founders and testimony. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark. pp. 127 et sequim.
- Beith, Alexander (1874). A Highland tour with Dr. Candlish (2 ed.). Edinburgh: A. and C. Black. p. 9-10.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Blaikie, William Garden (1886). "Candlish, Robert Smith". In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 8. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Brown, Thomas (1883). Annals of the disruption. Edinburgh: Macniven & Wallace. p. 787et passim.
- Buchanan, Robert (1854a). The ten years' conflict : being the history of the disruption of the Church of Scotland. Vol. 1. Glasgow ; Edinburgh ; London ; New York: Blackie and Son.
- Buchanan, Robert (1854b). The ten years' conflict : being the history of the disruption of the Church of Scotland. Vol. 2. Glasgow ; Edinburgh ; London ; New York: Blackie and Son.
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Candlish, Robert Smith". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 180.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Gordon, Robert; Buchan, George; Candlish, Robert Smith (1839). Report of the speeches of ... Dr. Gordon, Mr. Buchan of Kelloe, and Rev. R. S. Candlish, in the Commission of the General Assembly, ... August 14, 1839, on the Auchterarder case. Revised by the Speakers. Edinburgh: John Johnstone.
- McMullen, Michael D. (2004). "Candlish, Robert Smith". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/4547. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Scott, Hew (1915). Fasti ecclesiae scoticanae; the succession of ministers in the Church of Scotland from the reformation. Vol. 1. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd. p. 106.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Scott, Hew (1920). Fasti ecclesiae scoticanae; the succession of ministers in the Church of Scotland from the reformation. Vol. 3. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd. p. 332.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Smith, John (1853). Our Scottish clergy : fifty-two sketches, biographical, theological, & critical, including clergymen of all denominations. Edinburgh : Oliver & Boyd ; London : Simpkin, Marshall ; Glasgow : A. Smith. pp. 113-119.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Wilson, William, minister of St. Paul's Free Church, Dundee (1880). Memorials of Robert Smith Candlish, D.D. : minister of St. George's Free Church, and principal of the New College, Edinburgh with a chapter on his position as a theologian by Robert Rainy. Edinburgh: A. and C. Black. pp. 11–12.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Wylie, James Aitken, ed. (1881). Disruption worthies : a memorial of 1843, with an historical sketch of the free church of Scotland from 1843 down to the present time. Edinburgh: T. C. Jack. pp. 139–145.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
External links
- Robert Smith Candlish This site includes a biography of Candlish, several literature works by Candlish and some letters written by Candlish. It is one of several sites in the related Scottish Preachers' Hall of Fame.
- [1] various photographs from the National Portrait Gallery
- Works by Robert Smith Candlish at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Works by or about Robert Smith Candlish at Internet Archive