William Dool Killen
William Dool Killen (16 April 1806 – 10 January 1902) was a minister of the
Life
Born at Church Street, Ballymena, County Antrim, on 16 April 1806, he was third of four sons and nine children of John Killen (1768–1828), a grocer and seedsman in Ballymena, by his wife Martha, daughter of Jesse Dool, a farmer in Duneane. His paternal grandfather, a farmer at Carnmoney, married Blanche Brice, a descendant of Edward Brice; a brother, James Miller Killen (1815–1879) was a minister in Comber, County Down. Thomas Young Killen Moderator, in 1882, of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland[1] was his father's great-nephew.[2]
After attending local primary schools, Killen went around 1816 to Ballymena Academy, and in November 1821 entered the collegiate department of the
In July 1841 Killen was appointed, by the
In 1889 Killen resigned his chair but continued as president. He died on 10 January 1902, and was buried in Balmoral Cemetery, Belfast, where a monument marked his resting place. He received the degrees of D.D. (1845) and of LL.D. (1901) from the University of Glasgow. His portrait, painted by Richard Hooke, hung in the Gamble Library of the Assembly's College.[2]
Works
Killen wrote extensively on history. His major works were:[2]
- Continuation of James Seaton Reid's History of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland to 1841, Belfast, 1853.
- The Ancient Church. Its History, Doctrine, Worship, and Constitution traced for the First Three Hundred Years, 1859.
- Memoir of John Edgar, D.D., LL.D., Belfast, 1867.
- The Old Catholic Church. The History, Doctrine, Worship, and Polity of the Christians traced from the Apostolic Age to the Establishment of the Pope as a Temporal Sovereign, A.D. 755, Edinburgh, 1871.
- The Ecclesiastical History of Ireland from the Earliest Period to the Present Times, 2 vols. 1875.
- The Ignatian Epistles entirely Spurious. A Reply to Bishop Lightfoot, Edinburgh, 1886.
- The Framework of the Church. A Treatise on Church Government, Edinburgh, 1890.
- Reminiscences of a Long Life, 1901.
He edited, with introductions and notes:[2]
- The Siege of Derry, by John Mackenzie, Belfast, 1861.
- The Rise and Progress of the Presbyterian Government in the North of Ireland, by Patrick Adair.
- History of the Church of Ireland, by Andrew Stewart, Belfast, 1866.
- History of Congregations of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, mainly by James Seaton Reid, Belfast, 1886.
Killen took part in a bitter controversy concerning the relative merits of
Family
Killen married in 1830 Anne (d. 1886), third daughter of Thomas Young of Ballymena, by whom he had three sons and five daughters.[2]
Notes
- ^ "The Dictionary of Ulster Biography". www.newulsterbiography.co.uk.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Lee, Sidney, ed. (1912). . Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). Vol. 2. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
Attribution This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1912). "Killen, William Dool". Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). Vol. 2. London: Smith, Elder & Co.