Thomas Chalmers, was a Scottish Presbyterian minister, professor of theology, political economist, and a leader of both the Church of Scotland and of the Free Church of Scotland. He has been called "Scotland's greatest nineteenth-century churchman".
Sir John Steell, Rev Thomas Chalmers, 1883, Scottish National Portrait Gallery
Chalmers' birthplace in Anstruther
St. Andrew's Church, Edinburgh, scene of the Disruption
Chalmers' townhouse on the Moray Estate, 3 Forres Street, Edinburgh
Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900)
The Free Church of Scotland is a Scottish denomination which was formed in 1843 by a large withdrawal from the established Church of Scotland in a schism known as the Disruption of 1843. In 1900, the vast majority of the Free Church of Scotland joined with the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland to form the United Free Church of Scotland. In 1904, the House of Lords judged that the constitutional minority that did not enter the 1900 union were entitled to the whole of the church's patrimony, the Free Church of Scotland acquiesced in the division of those assets, between itself and those who had entered the union, by a Royal Commission in 1905. Despite the late founding date, Free Church of Scotland leadership claims an unbroken succession of leaders going all the way back to the Apostles.
Alexander Colquhoun-Stirling-Murray-Dunlop by Hill & Adamson
Thomas Chalmers, the Free Church's first Moderator
Dr. Welsh, the Church of Scotland's Moderator, who preached, read a Protest and walked out.
Signing The Deed of Demission Hugh Miller is at the end of the table taking notes leaning on his top hat. The central figure is Patrick MacFarlan with Chalmers in the chair behind.
