Background

Norman Macleod was born on the 3rd of June, 1812, in Kirk Street, Campbeltown, to the Rev. Dr. Norman Macleod and Agnes Maxwell.

Education

At the age of twelve Norman was sent from Campbeltown to Morven, where, first at the manse and afterwards in the house of the parish schoolmaster, he spent many happy months. In 1827 he commenced his curriculum of Arts at the University of Glasgow.

Four years afterwards he went to Edinburgh to study theology under Chalmers and Welsh, and on the recommendation of the former was in 1833 appointed tutor to the son of Mr. Preston of Moreby Hall, High Sheriff of Yorkshire. In this capacity he acted for three years, one winter being spent with his pupil in Edinburgh, and the rest of the time on the Continent mostly at Weimar or at Moreby Hall.

Career

In May 1837, Norman Macleod was licensed , and on March 15 in the following year was ordained minister of Loudoun, on the presentation of the Dowager Marchioness of Hastings, to whose attention he had been recommended by Dr. Chalmers. Here he remained for over five years - memorable years in the history of the Church - was a member of the General Assembly of 1843, and contributed to the literature of the Disruption period two tracts, the well-known "Cracks aboot the Kirk for Kintra Folk, " who are likely, from their inimitable humour and force of his expression, to be about the last of that multifarious literature.

In 1847 he became one of the founders of the Evangelical Alliance, and from 1849 edited the Christian Instructor (Edinburgh). In 1851 he was called to the Barony church, Glasgow, in which city the rest of his days were passed. There the more liberal theology rapidly made way among a people who judged it more by its fruits than its arguments, and Macleod won many adherents by his practical schemes for the social improvement of the people. He instituted temperance refreshment rooms, a congregational penny savings bank, and held services specially for the poor. In 1860 Macleod was appointed editor of the new monthly magazine Good Words. Under his control the magazine, which was mainly of a religious character, became widely popular. His own literary work, nearly all of which originally appeared in its pages—sermons, stories, travels, poems—was only a byproduct of a busy life. By far his best work was the spontaneous and delightful Reminiscences of a Highland Parish (1867). While Good Words made his name known, and helped the cause he had so deeply at heart, his relations with the queen and the royal family strengthened yet further his position in the country. Never since Principal Carstairs had any Scottish clergyman been on such terms with his sovereign. In 1865 he risked an encounter with Scottish Sabbatarian ideas. The presbytery of Glasgow issued a pastoral letter on the subject of Sunday trains and other infringements of the Sabbath. Macleod protested against the grounds on which its strictures were based. For a time, owing partly to a misleading report of his statement, he became “the man in all Scotland most profoundly distrusted. ” But four years later the Church accorded him the highest honour in her power by choosing him as moderator of her general assembly. In 1867, along with Dr Archibald Watson, he was sent to India, to inquire into the state of the missions. He undertook the journey in spite of failing health, and seems never to have recovered from its effects. He returned resolved to devote the rest of his days to rousing the Church to her duty in the sphere of foreign missions, but his health was now broken, and his old energy flagged. He died on June 16, 1872, and was buried at Campsie.

Achievements

• Norman Macleod was an influential liberal Presbyterian minister of the Church of Scotland who took advantage of the controversy over church reform during 1833–1843 to implement policies advocated by the Free Church of Scotland (which seceded in 1843) while yet remaining within the mother church. He was also known for his ministry to the Scottish working classes.
  
  His Glasgow church was named after him the "Macleod Parish Church, " and the "Macleod Missionary Institute" was erected by the Barony church in Glasgow.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Eastward
  • Reminiscences of a Highland Parish
  • Memorials of John Mackintosh
  • Half Hours in the Holy Land; Travels in Egypt, Palestine, Syria
  • Days in North India
  • Wee Davie
  • The Earnest Student
  • The Temptation of Our Lord

Views

Quotations: "Palaeontologists use fiction all the time. "

"As adults feign disinterest in science - children can grab hold of it to distinguish themselves. "

"Writing a children's book means you cannot spin out long narratives or have complex character development. "

Connections

Norman Macleod was married to Catherine Mackintosh. By her he left three sons and six daughters.

Father:

Norman Macleod

Norman Macleod was a Scottish divine and miscellaneous writer.

Mother:

Agnes Maxwell

Sister:

Jessie MacNeill Clerk (Macleod)

Wife:

Catherine Ann Mackintosh

Catherine Ann Mackintosh was the daughter of William Mackintosh of Geddes, and sister of John Mackintosh.

Son:

John Mackintosh Macleod

Brother:

Donald Macleod

Brother:

George Husband Baird Macleod