Lamb’s Fasti of the United Free Church of Scotland, 1900-1929
The United Free Church, at this stage of its history (1900-1929), served, we might say, as a bridge for the Free Church and the United Presbyterian Church to return to the Church of Scotland. This sense of “between-ness” is hinted at in the words of N. R. Needham in the Dictionary of Scottish Church History and Theology: “As its early years had been preoccupied with the legal aftermath of the 1900 Union, so the UFC’s [United Free Church’s] latter years were increasingly dominated by the coming Union with the CofS [Church of Scotland].” Yet it’s importance should not be underestimated: during that period over 3300 ministers, many of them of the highest distinction, served in its ranks. Lamb’s Fasti gives an account of these ministers and the churches and other ministries in which they served.
This book was published in 1956, under the authority of a Committee of the Church of Scotland and under the editorship of John Alexander Lamb, then Librarian of New College, Edinburgh. At the time a review, published in the Scottish Journal of Theology (Volume 10, issue 2), stated: “Such a book has a restricted appeal, especially when its candour has been limited by the fact that many of those recorded, and still more of their close relations, are alive today. … The piquancy of Hew Scot’s first edition is lacking, but within the terms of his remit the editor, Dr Lamb, has shewn a meticulous accuracy far transcending that of his predecessors. Errors are almost untraceable, but, inevitably, there are some omissions.”
Very accurate, though with some omissions and lacking in family detail – yes, but nonetheless, like Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae, a remarkable piece of work and one which is inevitably the standard reference work on the subject.
Selling original for 4 guineas, the book can still be obtained second hand – for a price. But it is not as widely accessible as it might be – a situation now remedied by its publication in digital format on this web-site.
One would like to think that the digitising and reformatting of this book have been done with “meticulous accuracy” but, of course, errors have crept in. Any drawn to my attention will be remedied. But, faults though there be, this is a significant development of this website. It adds over half a million words to the web-site and more importantly, when developments associated with this are completed, ecclegen.com will provide almost complete coverage of Scottish Presbyterian ministers from 1560 to 1929 – the most obvious gap being an account of the ministers who kept the Free Church going after 1900.
Here is Lamb’s Fasti. I don’t say “Have a good read” – it’s not that sort of material – but “Have a good browse.”