Murdoch Campbell
Rev Murdoch Campbell MA (1900–1974) was a 20th-century Scottish minister and devotional author. He served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland in 1956.[1]
He has been called "the greatest Scottish devotional writer of the 20th century".[2]
Life
He was born at Swainbost in Ness on the Isle of Lewis in 1900[3] the son of a crofting missionary of the Free Church of Scotland. He was educated locally until the age of 12 then apprenticed as a shipwright in Greenock. In 1918 he was conscripted into the army during the First World War. After the war he returned to Greenock as a shipwright.[2]
In 1922 he studied to be a civil servant at Skerry's College in Edinburgh, then began studies in Divinity at Edinburgh University before training as a minister at the Free church of Scotland College in Edinburgh. His first ministry was at Fort Augustus.[4]
He served as the Free church minister at Culnacarn on the Glenmoriston estate from 1930 to 1934 and gained a reputation as a fire and brimstone style preacher, focussed on the evils of sin. In 1934 he was translated to the Highland (Gaelic) Church in Partick, Glasgow.[4]
In the Second World War he served as a Naval Chaplain at Portsmouth and Plymouth. In 1951 he became minister of Resolis on the Black Isle.[3]
He retired due to ill-health in 1968. He died on 10 January 1974. He is buried in Fodderty graveyard.[5]
Family
He was married to Mary Fraser of Fodderty (b.1899). One child died in infancy. Their son David Campbell was involved in the publication of some of his works.
Publications
- "God's Unsettled Controversy" (1941)
- "The Loveliest Story Ever Told" (1963)
- "Gleanings of Highland Harvest" (1964)
- "In All Their Affliction" (1966)
- "Memories of a Wayfaring Man" (1974-posthumous)[6]
- "Wells of Joy" (Gaelic poems)
- "From Grace to Glory"
- "Everlasting Love: Devotional Sermons"
- "The Suburbs of Heaven"
References
- Annals of the Free Church of Scotland 1956
- Zach Dotson (2016-04-29). "Murdoch Campbell – Purely Presbyterian". Purelypresbyterian.com. Archived from the original on 2020-01-14. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2020-01-14. Retrieved 2020-01-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "Murdoch Campbell". Glenmoriston.org.uk. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
- "Ross & Cromarty Roots | Murdoch Campbell". Gravestones.rosscromartyroots.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2020-01-14. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
- "Memories Of a Wayfaring Man by Campbell, Murdoch". Biblio.com. Archived from the original on 2020-01-14. Retrieved 2020-01-15.