Robert Wodrow
Robert Wodrow | |
|---|---|
 portrait from Eastwood | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April (or September) 1679[1][2] |
| Died | 21 March 1734 |
| Denomination | Church of Scotland |
| Occupation | minister |
Robert Wodrow (1679 – 21 March 1734) was a Scottish minister and historian, known as a chronicler and defender of the Covenanters. Robert Wodrow was born at Glasgow, where his father, James Wodrow, was a professor of divinity.[3] Robert was educated at the university and was librarian from 1697 to 1701. From 1703 till his death, he was parish minister at Eastwood, near Glasgow. He had sixteen children, his son Patrick being the "auld Wodrow" of Burns's poem Twa Herds.[4]
Biography
Robert Wodrow was the youngest son of James Wodrow,
Associate Presbytery. He declined calls to Glasgow in 1712, to Stirling in 1717, and again in 1726. He died on 21 March 1734. An enthusiastic collector of information on the history and personal ministry of the Church, he left behind him a vast accumulation of interesting and illuminative MSS. many of which were printed by the Wodrow Society (1841–50), the Maitland and other Clubs. The Wodrow MSS. are preserved in the Advocates Library, and the Library of the University of Glasgow.[5] The papers include records of the visions of the 17th century Presbyterian prophet Barbara Peebles.[6]
Family
He married November 1708, Margaret (died 27 January 1758), widow of Ebenezer Veitch, minister of Ayr, and daughter of Patrick Warner of Ardeer, minister of Irvine, and had issue:
- Janet, born 1710, buried 5 April 1773 ["Her days and nights were devoted to the poor, to whom she gave her personal but unostentatious attendance"];
- Robert, his successor in Eastwood
- Patrick, minister of Tarbolton;
- James (1730–1810), minister of Stevenston, Ayrshire. He left a valuable collection of letters exchanged over six decades with his friend Samuel Kenrick, who settled as a banker in Bewdley, Worcestershire. Their correspondence is being published in four volumes by Oxford University Press (2020–).[7]
- Alexander, settled in America, had an estate there, and died about the end of the first American War;
- Mary, died unmarried;
- Margaret (married Matthew Biggar, minister of Kirkoswald);
- Marion, died unmarried;
- Martha
- six others died early.[5]
Works
Wodrow's major work, The History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland from the Restoration to the Revolution, was published in two volumes in 1721–1722 (new ed. with a life of Wodrow by
restoration of the monarchy in 1660, including what he called "The Killing Times" . He was one of the first historians to use "publick records, original papers, and manuscripts of that time" and included many first hand accounts of this period in the history of the Church of Scotland, producing a martyrology that the church would turn to again at times of suffering.[citation needed] The work was approved by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and dedicated to George I, who recognised its semi-official character by, on 26 April 1725, authorising the payment out of the exchequer of 100 guineas to Wodrow.[8]
As an apprentice, the soon-to-be prominent London bookseller Andrew Millar sent Wodrow book price-lists.[9] As a friend of Millar's father, Wodrow may have helped to apprentice Millar to James McEuen, who was also his friend.
Wodrow also wrote a Life (1828) of his father. He left two other works in manuscript: Memoirs of Reformers and Ministers of the Church of Scotland, and Analecta: or Materials for a History of Remarkable Providences, mostly relating to Scotch Ministers and Christians. Of the former, two volumes were published by the
New Spalding Club in 1890; the latter was published in four volumes by the Maitland Club in 1842–1843.[4]
Wodrow left a great mass of correspondence, three volumes of which, edited by Thomas McCrie, appeared in 1842–1843. The Wodrow Society, founded in Edinburgh to perpetuate his memory, was in existence from 1841 to 1847, several works being published under its auspices.[4]
Bibliography
- The history of the sufferings of the church of Scotland from the restoration to the revolution, with an original memoir of the author, extracts from his correspondence, and preliminary dissertation and notes, in four volumes. Vol. 1. Glasgow: Blackie Fullerton & Co. 1828.
- The history of the sufferings of the church of Scotland from the restoration to the revolution, with an original memoir of the author, extracts from his correspondence, and preliminary dissertation and notes, in four volumes. Vol. 2. Glasgow: Blackie Fullerton & Co. 1830.
- The history of the sufferings of the church of Scotland from the restoration to the revolution, with an original memoir of the author, extracts from his correspondence, and preliminary dissertation and notes, in four volumes. Vol. 3. Glasgow: Blackie Fullerton & Co. 1829.
- The history of the sufferings of the church of Scotland from the restoration to the revolution, with an original memoir of the author, extracts from his correspondence, and preliminary dissertation and notes, in four volumes. Vol. 4. Glasgow: Blackie Fullerton & Co. 1835.
- Life of James Wodrow: Professor of Divinity in the University of Glasgow from 1692 to 1707. Edinburgh: William Blackwood. 1828.
- Collections Upon the Lives of the Reformers and Most Eminent Ministers of the Church of Scotland. Vol. 1. Glasgow: Maitland Club. 1834.
- Collections Upon the Lives of the Reformers and Most Eminent Ministers of the Church of Scotland. Vol. 2. Glasgow: Maitland Club. 1845.
- Analecta: Or Materials for a History of Remarkable Providences Mostly relating to Scotch Ministers and Christians. Vol. 1. Glasgow: Maitland Club. 1842.
- Analecta: Or Materials for a History of Remarkable Providences Mostly relating to Scotch Ministers and Christians. Vol. 2. Glasgow: Maitland Club. 1842.
- Analecta: Or Materials for a History of Remarkable Providences Mostly relating to Scotch Ministers and Christians. Vol. 3. Glasgow: Maitland Club. 1842.
- Analecta: Or Materials for a History of Remarkable Providences Mostly relating to Scotch Ministers and Christians. Vol. 4. Glasgow: Maitland Club. 1843.
- M'Crie, Thomas, ed. (1842). The Correspondence of the Rev. Robert Wodrow. Vol. 1. Edinburgh: The Wodrow Society.
- M'Crie, Thomas, ed. (1842). The correspondence of the Rev. Robert Wodrow. Vol. 2. Edinburgh: The Wodrow Society.
- M'Crie, Thomas, ed. (1843). The correspondence of the Rev. Robert Wodrow. Vol. 3. Edinburgh: The Wodrow Society.
References
Citations
- ^ Scott 1920.
- ^ Yeoman 2004b.
- ^ a b Scott 1928.
- ^ a b c d Chisholm 1911, p. 768.
- ^ a b Scott 1920, p. 135.
- ISBN 9781906566029.
- ISBN 978-0-19-880901-2.
- ^ Henderson 1900, p. 280-281.
- ^ "The manuscripts, Letter from Andrew Millar to Robert Wodrow, 5 August, 1725. Andrew Millar Project. University of Edinburgh". www.millar-project.ed.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
Sources
- Anderson, William (1877). "Wodrow, Robert". The Scottish nation: or, The surnames, families, literature, honours, and biographical history of the people of Scotland. Vol. 3. A. Fullarton & co. pp. 667–669.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. - Bruce, Robert; Wodrow, Robert (1843). Cunningham, William (ed.). Sermons by the Rev Robert Bruce, with Collections for his Life by Rev Robert Wodrow. Edinburgh: Printed for the Wodrow Society.
- This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Chambers, Robert (1855). Thomson, Thomas (ed.). A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen. Vol. 8. Glasgow: Blackie. pp. 490–494.
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Wodrow, Robert". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 768.
- Couper, W. J. (1928). Robert Wodrow. Scottish Church History Society. pp. 112-134.
- Couper, W. J. (1935). Robert Wodrow and his critics. Scottish Church History Society. pp. 238-251.
- This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Henderson, Thomas Findlayson (1900). "Wodrow, Robert". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 62. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 280–281.
- "Robert Wodrow (1679-1734)". Hall of Fame. National Records of Scotland. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
- This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Scott, Hew (1920). Fasti ecclesiæ scoticanæ; the succession of ministers in the Church of Scotland from the reformation. Vol. 3. Edinburgh : Oliver and Boyd. p. 135–136.
- This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Scott, Hew (1928). Fasti ecclesiae scoticanae; the succession of ministers in the Church of Scotland from the reformation. Vol. 7. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd. pp. 399-440.
- "The American Cyclopædia. 1879.
- Wodrow, Robert (1890). Lippe, Robert (ed.). Selections from Wodrow's biographical Collections: divines of the north-east of Scotland, ed. by the Reverend Robert Lippe. Aberdeen: Printed for the New Spalding Club. pp. lxxx-lxxxv.
- Yeoman, L. A. (2004a). "Wodrow, James". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/65447. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Yeoman, L. A. (2004b). "Wodrow, Robert". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/29819. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
Further reading
Works by or about Robert Wodrow at Internet Archive
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