David Welsh (1793-1845)

David Welsh (1793-1845) was Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Edinburgh University from 1831 until 1843, when, as one of the leaders of the newly formed Free Church of Scotland, he demitted his post and became the first Professor of Ecclesiastical History at New College.

Beginnings

Welsh, the youngest son of a sheep farmer, was born at Braefoot, Moffat> Welsh, David (1793–1845), Free Church of Scotland minister and author, youngest son of David Welsh, sheep farmer, of Earlshaugh and Tweedshaws, was born at Braefoot, Moffat, on 11 December 1793. He was educated at Moffat parish school, the high school of Edinburgh, and Edinburgh University, and on 7 May 1816 was licensed to preach by the presbytery of Lochmaben. On 22 March 1821 he was ordained minister of the parish of Crossmichael in Kirkcudbrightshire, and on 6 September 1827 he was translated to St David's Church, Glasgow. He married, probably in 1830, Isabel, sister of William Hamilton, provost of Glasgow. In 1825 Welsh published a biography of Thomas Brown MD, following it with an edition of Brown's philosophical lectures in 1834. In October 1831 he was appointed professor of ecclesiastical history in the University of Edinburgh, and, on leaving Glasgow, received from the university the degree of DD. He was a painstaking lecturer. In 1834 he visited Germany and in 1844 published Elements of Church History. He wrote articles on Jesus and on the Jews for the Encyclopaedia Britannica (1841).