Scottish Episcopal Church History

The Chronological Story of the 18th Century

1701 King James VII and II dies and is succeeded by his son, who takes the title of King James VIII and III. He is recognised as the legitimate king by France, Spain and the Papal States as well as by many in the British Isles. (In this account the names of monarchs are given in the style in which they thought of themselves - irrespective of whether they were de jure or de facto rulers).

1701 In England the Act of Succession makes it impossible for a Roman Catholic to ascend the throne.

1702 King William dies from injuries sustained on falling from his horse, aged 51, and is succeeded by his sister-in-law, Anne - James VIII and III’s second sister. She writes to the Scottish Privy Council saying that Episcopalians should be protected in the peaceful exercise of religion.

1704 The Archbishop of St Andrews and Primate of the Church, Arthur Rose, dies. His nephew, Alexander Rose, Bishop of Edinburgh, becomes also the Vicar-General of the Archdiocese of St Andrews. He is the first Primus inter Pares of the Church, the first among equals, but without the metropolitical authority exercised by Archbishops of St Andrews. (Primus still remains a unique title within Anglicanism today. Nearly all the churches of the Anglican Communion have Archbishops, although, instead, a few have a Presiding Bishop or Primate Bishop). Like almost all of the Scottish bishops during the next 150 years Alexander Rose is also the incumbent of a congregation, which provides his income.

1705 After the death of Archbishop Rose just five of the pre-Revolution bishops are left in office. During the fifteen years since the Revolution vacant dioceses have been left unfilled as the Jacobite bishops believe that it is the exiled king’s right to issue the congre d’elire, the document authorising the appointment of bishops to specific dioceses. However, to ensure the Episcopal succession the bishops ordain some priests as bishops but without charge of dioceses. By 1728 fourteen such bishops have been consecrated, eight of them during Alexander Rose’s time as Primus.

1707 The Act of Succession is ratified by the Scottish Parliament and Sophia, Dowager Electress of Hanover and a grand-daughter of James VI and I, becomes heir apparent.

1707 The Union of the Parliaments of Scotland and England is implemented.

1708 James VIII and III attempts an invasion of Scotland. His French ships intend to land in the Firth of Forth but are intercepted by a Government fleet. The French admiral refuses to allow James to land, choosing retreat rather than the risk of battle.

1712 The fourth penal law - The Act of Toleration - requires Episcopalian clergy to pray for Queen Anne by name and also opens a route for Episcopalians willing to forsake allegiance to the exiled King James VIII. It is the beginning of the “Qualified” congregations – the last of which was reunited with the Episcopal Church in 1920. These congregations use the English Prayer Book and are ministered to by clergy who “qualify” under the Act of Toleration. The Act is further modified in 1746 and 1748.

1713 Under the Treaty of Utrecht, which ends the inconclusive Spanish War of Succession, one of the clauses requires James VIII and III to leave France. It is two years before James moves to Rome, where he lives for the rest of his life.

1714 Sophia, Dowager Electress of Hanover and heir to the British throne, dies just two months before Queen Anne herself dies at the age of forty-nine. Sophia’s son, and Anne’s second cousin, George, Elector of Hanover, becomes King George I. There are more than fifty nearer claimants to the British throne than George but all, including James VIII and III, are Roman Catholics. The 1701 and 1707 Act of Succession debars them and George is the nearest non-Roman claimant.

1715 The Second Jacobite Rising begins. The Earl of Mar sails from London to Scotland and on September 6th raises the Standard of James VIII and III at Braemar amid 600 supporters. By October, Lord Mar's forces, nearly 20,000 now, control all Scotland north of the Forth, except Stirling Castle. However, a period of indecisiveness and inaction allows the Government forces to consolidate. In November the Jacobites march from Perth with the intention of taking Stirling. The Battle of Sherrifmuir on November 13th is inconclusive but on the same day Inverness surrenders to Government troops and a Jacobite force, led by John Mackintosh of Borlum, is defeated at Preston in England.

James VIII and III (known to the Hanoverians as The Old Pretender) is received on the quayside at Peterhead in Aberdeenshire on December 22nd by William Dunbar, priest at Cruden Bay, but by the time the king meets Lord Mar at Fetteresso on January 9th 1716 the Jacobite army is less than 5000. In contrast, the Duke of Argyll, Commander of the Government army, has acquired heavy artillery and is advancing steadily. Lord Mar orders the burning of villages between Perth and Stirling to deprive Argyll's army of supplies. On January 30th the Jacobite army retreats northwards from Perth and on February 4th James writes a farewell letter to his supporters and sails from Montrose on February 5th. He is joined in exile by the Earl of Mar. Almost the entire Jacobite army is Episcopalian and, as a consequence, after the failure of the Rising the Government in London removes many clergy from office - in the Aberdeen Diocese alone the number is thirty. In the years to come yet harsher measures are taken to try to avert the Jacobite threat.

1716 Two of the Scottish non-diocesan bishops - Archibald Campbell, who lives in England, and James Gadderar - meet with three English Non-Juring bishops in London, and Bishop Campbell speaks of private talks with Arsenius, Archbishop of Thebas, the representative of the Patriarch of Alexandria. There is hope of reunion with the Orthodox, but the negotiations, eventually, falter.

1719 The third Jacobite Rising - England and France are at peace but Cardinal Giulio Alberoni encourages a Spanish invasion in support of James VIII and III. A storm scatters the twenty-seven ships of an invasion fleet before they can land 5000 soldiers in England. However, two ships bring a group of exiled Jacobites and 300 Spanish troops to Loch Duich. They briefly hold Eilean Donan Castle before a defeat at the Battle of Glen Shiel. Three of the Jacobite commanders (the Earl of Seaforth, Lord George Murray and Rob Roy McGregor) are wounded in the battle. A British force mounts a reprisal raid on the north-west coast of Spain, holding Vigo - from where the invasion ships had sailed - for ten days before withdrawing. The Spanish prisoners from Glen Shield are returned to Spain.

1720 Bishop Rose of Edinburgh dies, the last remaining diocesan bishop in office. The Church now has four non-diocesan bishops living in Scotland and two living in London. Three of them take part in a meeting of the clergy of Edinburgh, a meeting which agrees both to fill the See and also that the clergy have a vote in the election. The senior bishop, by date of consecration, John Fullarton, a non-diocesan bishop since 1705, is not present but at a second meeting he is elected as Bishop of Edinburgh. The other bishops, under the title The Episcopal College, ratify the election and choose him as Primus. James Vlll is told of these events, gives his consent and writes to the Primus saying “The welfare of the Scots clergy I shall ever have at heart.”

John Fullarton was born around 1645 and graduated from Glasgow University. He followed in his grandfather’s steps by becoming incumbent of Kilmodan in Argyll. In 1684 he was appointed to the First Charge of Paisley Abbey, from which he was removed at the Revolution settlement of 1689. He was one of two priests who became the first non-diocesan bishops in 1705. A fervent Jacobite he was in regular contact with James VIII’s agent in Scotland, George Lockhart of Carnwath.

Bishops are gradually appointed to some of the other dioceses and ultimately the system of both diocesan and non-diocesan bishops proves unsatisfactory as some of the bishops have oversight of specific districts while others do not. Disputes among the bishops continue regularly, particularly over the “Usages” – water added to the wine in the chalice at the Eucharist, the Epiclesis (a prayer asking for the coming of the Holy Spirit on the bread and wine of the Eucharist), a prayer of Oblation and prayers for the dead.

1727 George I dies in Hanover, aged sixty-seven, and is succeeded by his son, George II.

1727 The Primus, John Fullarton dies, aged seventy-two, at his family estate, Greenhall at Kilmodan in Argyll, and is succeeded both as Bishop of Edinburgh and Primus by the seventy-eight year old Arthur Millar, a graduate of King’s College, Aberdeen. He is the incumbent at Leith and has been a non-diocesan bishop since 1718. He dies after just five months as Primus, months of considerable difficulty for him as he faces hostility and a lack of co-operation from some of the bishops.

1727 Four diocesan bishops meet in Synod in Edinburgh and agree six Canons relating to the election of bishops and the appointment of deans.

1727 The clergy of Edinburgh, without the approval of the bishops or James VIII, elect Andrew Lumsden as bishop. A graduate of Edinburgh University he followed his father and grandfather as incumbent of Duddingston until deposed in 1691 by the Commissioners of the Assembly for declining their authority. He became incumbent of the Barrenger’s Close meeting house and Archdeacon of Edinburgh. He is consecrated by the Bishop of Brechin, the Co-adjutor Bishop of Edinburgh and Bishop Andrew Cant, the only non-diocesan bishop willing to be present. Bishop Lumsden is appointed Primus.

1731 An Agreement is reached between the Scottish diocesan and non-diocesan bishops, which restores the concept of diocesan episcopacy (although the name College of Bishops and the role of Primus continues to this day). All the bishops agree to the six clauses of the Agreement, except that the Primus, Andrew Lumsden, dissents from the removal of possible metropolitan powers (which he has never used but thinks important to possess for the maintenance of dignity and order). The Agreement is significant in that it brings an end to any expectation of the involvement of the Crown – James VIII in exile or George II in London - in the governance of the Episcopal Church.

The meeting at which the Agreement is signed also brings to an end Andrew Lumsden’s time as Primus. He is removed under Clause V of the Agreement just reached. He continues as Bishop of Edinburgh and as incumbent of Barrenger’s Close until his death, aged sixty-nine, two years later.

The new Primus, at seventy-eight, is older. He is David Freebairn, a non-diocesan bishop since 1722 (his consecration having being requested by the exiled James VIII).

The 1731 Agreement also allocates areas of “inspection” to each of the bishops (similar to but not yet called dioceses) and Bishop Freebairn becomes Bishop of Galloway (along with Annandale, Nithsdale and Tweeddale) as well as Primus (the responsibilities of the office being to call the bishops together and preside at their meetings). All of this is combined with his continuing role as incumbent of the Baillie Fyfe’s Close meeting house in Edinburgh. It is the first time that the Primus has not been the Bishop of Edinburgh – the previous understanding being that the order of seniority among the bishops was first the Archbishop of St Andrews (the last of whom died in 1704), secondly the Archbishop of Glasgow (the last died in 1708) and thirdly, by command of Charles II at the time of the creation of Edinburgh Diocese, the Bishop of Edinburgh.

1733 However, on the death of the former Primus, Andrew Lumsden, David Freebairn, succeeds him as Bishop of Edinburgh. He is an ardent Jacobite and a dispute arises over papers brought from France which the Primus wishes the other bishops to see. Most refuse to attend a meeting he calls and in 1735 there is a dispute over the consecration of Robert White as Bishop of Dunblane. The Primus and one other bishop oppose his nomination but three bishops consecrate him anyway.

1733 Arguments concerning the relationship between the Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the civil law in Scotland lead to a secession from the Church of Scotland. This First Secession arises from disputes over who has the power to nominate parish ministers. A Second Secession follows in 1761.

1738 The eighty-five year old David Freebairn is removed as Primus at a meeting of the bishops. Like his predecessor the deposed Primus continues his ministry as Bishop of Edinburgh and as incumbent of Baillie Fyfe’s Close meeting house. He dies on Christmas Eve of the next year.

The new Primus, Thomas Rattray, is a member of a Jacobite family. He inherited the Craighall Estate at Rattray, Blairgowrie, Perthshire, in 1692 and, unlike his immediate predecessors and successors, he is not officially an incumbent of a congregation and is not dependent on such a position for his income. He lives at Craighall throughout his ministry. He was Bishop of Brechin from 1727 to 1731 and Bishop of Dunkeld from 1731. The most intellectual of the bishops, his interests include the enrichment of the Liturgy and the establishment of proper church order by means of a set of Canons.

1743 Thomas Rattray, the Primus, dies aged fifty-nine, before he sees much of his work come to fruition. He is succeeded as Primus by Robert Keith, Bishop of Caithness, Orkney and the Isles since 1731. (He was also Bishop of Fife from 1733 but resigns on being elected Primus). He is descended from the Keith family of Earls Marischal and had been educated at Aberdeen Grammar School and Marischal College, Aberdeen. He was ordained deacon in 1710 and after three years as chaplain to the Earl of Erroll and the Dowager Countess at Cruden Bay, Aberdeenshire, he was ordained priest and began a ministry at Barrenger’s Close meeting house in Edinburgh which lasted for the rest of his life.

1743 The meeting of bishops at which Robert Keith becomes Primus also agrees the Code of Canons, which had been written principally by Thomas Rattray. This is the first full attempt at revision since that - in the name of Charles I - in 1636. The new Canons provide the bedrock on which for all future church legislation is built.

1745 The fourth Jacobite Rising begins. It is led by the Prince Regent, Charles Edward Stuart, Bonnie Prince Charlie, (known to the Hanoverians as The Young Pretender). The Episcopal Church is less overtly involved than in the 1715 Rising, although the Prince’s army is 70% Episcopalian and many of the Prince’s Regiments have an Episcopalian chaplain.

After initial successes, including the capture of Edinburgh, the Jacobite army marches into England. At Derby a Council of War decides to return to Scotland rather than continue the march on London. In April 1746 the Prince's army is defeated at Culloden. At the time of the battle many of the Jacobite soldiers were tired and hungry. The previous night they had undertaken a fifteen mile night march to Nairn to attempt a surprise raid on the Duke of Cumberland's camp. However, the march took too long and it was daybreak before the raiders arrived. They returned the fifteen miles to Culloden and awaited the coming of the Government army. After the battle the Prince is hidden by supporters in the Highlands and Western Isles until his escape to France. In the aftermath of the Rising many Episcopal Churches are burned in the north and north-east. In some parts of Scotland, particularly those which had sheltered the Bonnie Prince after Culloden, a revenge - verging on ethnic cleansing - is exacted.

The fifth penal law - The Toleration Act - requires all Episcopal priests to register their Letters of Orders and take Oaths of Allegiance to King George.

1748 The sixth penal law – The Penal Act - declares all previous registration of Orders to be void and Episcopal clergy are forbidden from conducting public worship. A priest is permitted to hold worship in a private house with not more than four people present, in addition to members of his family. Ingenious ways around the Act are devised – for example the service might be conducted from a central hallway with not more than four people in each of the rooms leading from it, with others listening outside the windows. In Peterhead the priest, Robert Kilgour, would on occasion lead fifteen such services a Sunday.

1751 John Wesley preaches in Musselburgh during the first of twenty-two visits to Scotland over thirty-nine years.

1753 The last martyr of the 1745 Jacobite Rising is executed at Tyburn in London. He is Dr Archie Cameron, aged forty-six, the brother of the Chief of Clan Cameron, Donald Cameron of Lochiel.

1757 The Primus, Robert Keith, dies, aged seventy-six, at his home in Donnington. Robert White, who had been Bishop of Dunblane from 1735 until 1743 and Bishop of Fife from 1743, is elected as Primus while also continuing to be the incumbent at Cupar in Fife.

1760 George II dies and is succeeded by his grandson, George III. A relaxation of the rigorous enforcement of the penal laws gradually begins. Services are held more openly and some new churches built.

1761 The Primus, Robert White, dies and is succeeded in 1762 by William Falconer, Bishop of Moray since 1742. The new Primus grew up in a wealthy family in Elgin and was educated at Oxford. He was ordained at the age of twenty-one and, after a seven year chaplaincy to the Laird of Balnagowan, became incumbent at Forres in Morayshire. He was incumbent in Elgin in 1741 when he was consecrated as Bishop Co-adjutor to Robert Keith in Caithness and Orkney. He was elected Bishop of Moray in 1742. He resigned as incumbent of Elgin after the Battle of Culloden in 1746 and lived thereafter in Edinburgh.

1764 The Scottish Communion Office is published, the fruit of the work of Thomas Rattray two decades earlier and a collaboration between William Falconer and Robert Forbes, incumbent of Leith and Bishop of Ross, Caithness and Orkney since 1762. The Liturgy contains a long prayer of invocation of the Holy Spirit and has both Celtic and Eastern Orthodox influences. Its title page states, revealing the mind-set of the bishops, that it is "The Communion Office of the Church of Scotland".

1766 James VIII and III dies, having been king in exile for sixty-three years seven months and two days. He is buried at Saint Peter’s in Rome and is succeeded by his son, Charles III, Bonnie Prince Charlie.

1776 The American Declaration of Independence is signed, the beginning of a seven year struggle for independence for the American colonies. It is achieved under the Treaty of Paris in 1783 and the United States becomes “a free, sovereign and independent nation”. The oversight of the American Church by the Bishop of London is then no longer appropriate and the clergy of Connecticut elect Samuel Seabury as bishop. He sails for London in 1783 to seek consecration but English Law prevents it unless he takes an Oath of Allegiance to the Crown, which is an unacceptable condition.

1776 William Falconer, the Primus, is elected as Bishop of Edinburgh, adding the responsibility to that of the Moray diocese (which he rarely visits since moving from Elgin and would resign two years later). His election ends a thirty-nine year vacancy in Edinburgh diocese.

1782 The Primus, William Falconer, resigns, although remaining Bishop of Edinburgh. He is succeeded by Robert Kilgour, incumbent of Peterhead and Bishop of Aberdeen since 1768. He was born at Cruden Bay, Aberdeenshire, and graduated from King’s College, Aberdeen. He was ordained in 1737 and immediately began his long ministry as incumbent of Peterhead, nine miles from his birthplace.

1784 William Falconer, Bishop of Edinburgh and previously Primus, dies aged seventy-seven.

1784 Samuel Seabury abandons his attempts in England to be consecrated as a bishop in the newly independent United States and comes to Scotland. He is consecrated on November 14th in Aberdeen as the first bishop for United States by Robert Kilgour, Bishop of Aberdeen and Primus; Arthur Petrie, Bishop of Moray; and John Skinner, Co-adjutor Bishop of Aberdeen. It is the beginning of the world-wide expansion of the Anglican Communion.

1786 Robert Kilgour resigns as Bishop of Aberdeen, to be succeeded by his Co-adjutor, John Skinner. Bishop Kilgour continues as Primus for a further two years and as incumbent of Peterhead for a further three years – a total of fifty-three years of ministry in the Buchan town.

1788 Charles III, Bonnie Prince Charlie, dies. He is buried at Frascati and, later, at Saint Peter’s in Rome. He is succeeded by his brother, a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and Bishop of Frascati, who becomes King Henry I (or Henry II if Henry, Earl of Darnley, second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, is counted as Henry I) and Henry IX in the English succession.

1788 With the death of Charles III the Primus and Bishops decide that support for the Stuart Kings is no longer viable. Robert Kilgour resigns as Primus and is succeeded by John Skinner, He is the son of the Dean of Aberdeen and was ordained at the age of nineteen to serve the congregations in Ellon and Udny in Aberdeenshire. At the age of thirty he moved to Aberdeen, to a house in Longacre, the upper floor of which became a meeting house (the forerunner of Saint Andrew’s Cathedral in Aberdeen). He became Co-adjutor Bishop of Aberdeen in 1782, Bishop of Aberdeen in 1786 and Primus in 1788, aged forty-four.

1789 With the Stuart king a Cardinal, the Episcopal Church agrees to pray for King George III. The history of Saint Peter's Church in Peterhead, where Robert Kilgour still ministers, reveals that on the first Sunday such prayers are included there is such a noise of coughing and shuffling of feet among the congregation as to drown out the words of the prayer. Three bishops (John Skinner of Aberdeen, John Strachan of Brechin and William Abernethy-Drummond of Edinburgh) travel to London to petition for the repeal of the penal laws. A Bill passes in the House of Commons but fails in the House of Lords.

1790 Robert Kilgour, the former Primus dies, aged seventy-six.

1792 At the second attempt the Scottish Episcopalians Relief Act is passed by both Houses of Parliament and the repression of the Church ends. However, the last hundred years have taken their toll - in 1689 there was a bishop for thirteen of the fourteen dioceses and six hundred clergy ministering to 66% of the population of Scotland. In 1792 there are four bishops and forty clergy ministering to 5% of the population. And, of course, the lifting of restrictions does not bring back the buildings lost in 1689. Under the careful leadership of the Primus, John Skinner, new churches begin to be built – a programme which accelerates throughout the nineteenth century, including the building of cathedrals in some dioceses and the transformation of an existing church into a cathedral in others.The last diocese to do so being Aberdeen and Orkney, where Saint Andrew’s Church in King Street becomes the cathedral for the diocese on February 25th 1914.