Documents: In volume 1 of his Annals, Ewing gave a brief account of the Free Church’s origin and history together with some basic documents connected with the Disruption. He also gave a list of unordained missionaries, Moderators of General Assembly, Clerks of Committees etc. Clicking Documents will take you to that material.
 
List of Congregations: Ewing’s Volume 2 provided a brief account of the origin and progress of Free Church congregations. Clicking List of Congregations will take you to that material.
 
List of Ministers: In Volume 1, Ewing also provided a list of Professors with a brief account of their lives and, separately, a similar list of other ministers. Here these two lists are merged into one alphabetical sequence. It is here too that the supplementary information which we have gathered is provided. Clicking List of Ministers will take you to all that material.
 
Supplementary Information: This is an explanation about the Supplementary information supplied alongside Ewing’s informaton in the List of Ministers. It explains the limits of the research conducted, the sources used, the way in which the information is laid out, etc. It is strongly recommended that anyone intending to use the Supplementary Information should first read this section. Clicking Supplementary Information will take you to this material.
 
Obituaries: Obituaries of Free Church Ministers, drawn from the Free Church Monthly publication, are available here. You can search them from this menu item. Alternatively, you can look for a minister via the Ministers’ List, and you will then find a link to his Obituary if there is one.
 
Introduction: If you wish to read the introduction to Ewing’s Edition and some information about this digital version, read on.

This work was prepared by Rev. William Ewing, D.D., was published in 1914 by T. & T. Clark, 34 George Street, Edinburgh, and was printed by Morrison and Gibb, Ltd.

Foreword

It contained the following foreword:
THE collection of materials for these volumes was begun by Dr. Andrew Melville, with the assistance of Mr. Duncan Cameron. After Dr. Melville’s death the task was carried a stage farther by Dr. C. G. M’Crie and Mr. John Cousin. When these gentlemen died Mr. Oliphant Smeaton and Rev. William Bruce of Largo continued the work, which was again arrested by the sudden death of Mr. Smeaton.

At the request of the Publications Committee I have sifted the materials thus gathered, taking measures to secure, as far as possible, information that still was lacking. I have tried to set down the things of chief interest in intelligible order.

The difficulty in obtaining statements at once full and accurate about events a few decades old, is very great. I have to thank a multitude of correspondents in all parts of the country for the trouble they so willingly took in searching local records and verifying facts. Mr. Manson and Mr. Robert Young, of the United Free Church Offices, and Mr. W. A. A. Balfour, Treasurer of the Free Churches (Scotland) Widows’ and Orphans’ Fund, most generously assisted in clearing up obscurities and supplying necessary data from sources accessible to them.

I owe a special debt of gratitude to Mr. G. C. Maclean and Mr. Duncan Cameron, for reading the proofs, and for many valuable criticisms and suggestions; to Mr. Eddington, Convener of the Publications Committee, for expert counsel and guidance; to Rev. T. Ratcliffe Barnett, Convener of the Annals Sub-committee, for much practical help; and to the Publishers, for their unfailing patience and courtesy.

W. EWING, EDINBURGH,

December 1914.

Note

It also was prefaced by the following Note by the Publications Committee.

THE Publications Committee greatly regret the delay in issuing the Annals of the Free Church of Scotland—a delay all too fully accounted for by the tragic happenings referred to in the Editor’s Foreword. It has been thought advisable to reduce the size of the work, confining it to two volumes instead of three as originally proposed. The Committee trust that in its smaller form it may serve not less efficiently the purposes for which such records are preserved.

A. EDDINGTON,

Convener of the Publications Committee of the

United Free Church of Scotland.

EDINBURGH,

December 1914.

This Version

This digital version of Ewing’s Annals represents the original as exactly as possible, except in the following ways:

• The printed version had separate lists of ministers and professors. This version merges these two lists, so that all ordained ministers are in one list.
• The errata detailed in Volume 1 of the printed edition have been corrected here.
• No attempt has been made to amend the text of Ewing, except that occasional mistakes that were obviously typographical have been corrected.
• There are discrepancies within the Volumes, for example, the information in Volume 1 sometimes does not correspond with that in Volume 2. These discrepancies have, in general, been noted.
• Where the original text has been changed through the correction of typographical errors or where it has been supplemented by references to discrepancies, this material is clearly marked. It is contained in square brackets thus: [ ……. ]
• There are minor changes made in punctuation and format.

Despite all efforts to be accurate, we make no claims that this web edition is free from error in the presentation of Ewing’s text, and, of course, we are in no way responsible for deficiencies in the original text.

Besides the full text of Ewing, supplementary information has been provided for some of the ministers. A full account of this ongoing project is given in the Introduction to that section of Ewing.