Background
James Blair was born in Banffshire, Scotland in 1656.
James Blair was born in Banffshire, Scotland in 1656.
Blair graduated M. A. at Edinburgh University in 1673. He was a Doctor of Divinity (DD).
Blair was beneficed in the Episcopal Church in Scotland, and for a time was rector of Cranston Parish in the diocese of Edinburgh. In 1682 he left Scotland for England, and three years later was sent by the bishop of London, Henry Compton, as a missionary to Virginia. He soon gained great influence over the colonists both in ecclesiastical and in civil affairs. He was the minister of Henrico parish from 1685 until 1694, of the Jamestown church from 1694 until 1710, and of Bruton church at Williamsburg from 1710 until his death. From 1689 until his death he was the commissary of the bishop of London for Virginia, his duties consisting "in visiting the parishes, correcting the lives of the clergy, and keeping them orderly. "
Largely because of charges brought against them by Blair, Governor Sir Edmund Andros, Lieutenant-governor Francis Nicholson, and Lieutenant- governor Alexander Spotswood were removed in 1698, 1705 and 1722 respectively.
In 1693 he founded The College of William and Mary in Virginia.
He died on the 18th of April 1743, and was buried at Jamestown, Virginia.
He published a collection of 117 discourses under the title Our Saviour's Divine Sermon on the Mount (4 vols. , 1722; second edition, 1732), and, in collaboration with Henry Hartwell and Edward Chilton, a work entitled The Present State of Virginia and the College (1727; written in 1693), probably the best account of the Virginia of that time.
Charles was a strong opponent of Presbyterianism and throughout his lifetime worked to reassert the strength of the Anglican Church.
In 1693, by the appointment of King William III, he became a member of the council of Virginia, of which he was for many years the president.
Quotes from others about the person
"Probably no other man in the colonial time did so much for the intellectual life of Virgihia. " - Prof. Moses Coit Tyler
"Thus, James Blair may be called the creator of the healthiest and most extensive intellectual influence that was felt in the Southern group of colonies before the Revolution. " - Prof. Moses Coit Tyler