Jump to content

Robert Keith (historian)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Robert Keith

Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church
ChurchScottish Episcopal Church
Installed1743
Term ended1757
PredecessorThomas Rattray
SuccessorRobert White
Orders
Ordination16 August 1710 (Deacon),
26 May 1713 (Priest)
Consecration18 June 1727 (Bishop)
byJames Gadderar
Personal details
Born7 February 1681
Died20 January 1757 (aged 75)
Leith,Edinburgh,Scotland
BuriedCanongate Churchyard,Edinburgh, Scotland
DenominationAnglicanism
ParentsAlexander Keith and Marjory Keith (née Arbuthnot)
SpouseIsobel Cameron
ChildrenTwo daughters

BishopRobert Keith(1681–1757) was aScottish Episcopalbishopandhistorian.

Life

[edit]

Born at Uras inKincardineshire,Scotland,on 7 February 1681, he was the second son of Alexander Keith and Marjory Keith (née Arbuthnot). He was educated atMarischal College,Aberdeenbetween 1695 and 1699; graduating with anA.M.in about 1700.

He waspreceptortoGeorge, Lord Keith(afterward the lastEarl Marischal) from July 1703 to July 1710, and to his brother,James Keith.He wasordainedadeaconon 16 August 1710, and from November 1710 to February 1713, he wasdomestic chaplaintoCharles Hay,13thEarl of Errolland his mother Anne, theDowagerCountess. Three years later, he was ordained to thepriesthoodon 26 May 1713. On the same day, he was appointedcurateat Barrenger's Close meeting-house inEdinburgh,and in 1733 he becameIncumbentof the meeting-house; a post he kept until his death.

The grave of Bishop Robert Keith, Canongate Kirkyard, Edinburgh

In 1716, he and other clergy in Edinburgh were prosecuted by theCommission of the Justiciaryfor not praying forKing George I.He was prohibited from the ministry and fined.

In 1719, he married Isobel Cameron, daughter of the Reverend John Cameron, Incumbent of Kincardine-in-Menteith. They had two children: an unnamed daughter (died before 1757), and Catharine who married Stewart Carmichael, an Edinburgh merchant, in 1752.

In March 1720, he was one of the clergy of Edinburgh who met to elect Arthur Ross's successor.

In 1727, he was appointedcoadjutorto theBishop of Edinburgh,andconsecratedto theEpiscopateatEdinburghon 18 June 1727. Hisconsecratorswere bishopsArthur MillarandThomas Rattray.

Four years later, he was appointedBishop of Caithness,OrkneyandThe Islesin December 1731. Between 1733 and 1743, he was alsoBishop of Fife.He was electedPrimus of the Scottish Episcopal Churchon 20 August 1743.

He was deeply versed inarcheology,numismaticsand Scottishantiquities.His published works includeHistory of the Affairs of Church and State in ScotlandandAn Historical Catalogue of the Bishops of Scotland.

He died inLeithon 20 January 1757, aged 75, and is buried inCanongate Churchyardon theRoyal Milein Edinburgh. The grave lies slightly west of the church.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  • Bertie, David M. (2000).Scottish Episcopal Clergy, 1689-2000.Edinburgh: T & T Clark. p. 74.ISBN0-567-08746-8.
  • Gordon, J. F. S. (1867).Scotichronicon.Vol. 2. Glasgow: John Tweed. pp.187–284.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Cousin, John William(1910).A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature.London: J. M. Dent & Sons – viaWikisource.