Alexander Robertson MacEwen

He was born on 14 May 1856 at Edinburgh and was the son of Rev. Alexander MacEwen D.D., and Elisa Robertson. His childhood was spent in Helensburgh (1851–56) and he was then educated at Glasgow Academy (1856–66). He graduated M.A. at University of Glasgow in 1870, and was subsequently awarded B.D. (1879), and D.D. (1892). He attended Balliol College, Oxford (1870–74) and graduated M.A. in 1874. He spent a summer semester at University of Göttingen in 1877 and attended U.P. College, Edinburgh (1877–80). On 29 January 1885, he married Margaret Jane Begg of Moffat, and they had two sons. He travelled widely and visited Greece in 1883 and journeyed through Sinai and Palestine in 1892, writing many letters home about his experiences.[1]

He died in Edinburgh on 26 November 1916 and was buried with his wife, Margaret Jane, on the eastern corner of the south-west section of Dean Cemetery. The grave is marked by a simple stone cross.

• 1875-7 – Assistant to George Gilbert Ramsay (1863–1906), Professor of Humanity at Glasgow University;
• 1879 – Student missionary at United Presbyterian Church of Scotland at Colson Street, Leith Walk, Edinburgh;
• May 1880 – Licensed by U.P. Presbytery of Glasgow;
• Dec 1880 – Ordinated and inducted at Moffat U.P. Church;
• 1881-4 – Classical Examiner for Degrees at Glasgow University;[2]
• Sep 1886 – Transferred to Glasgow Anderston U.P. Church;
• Oct 1889 – Transferred to Glasgow Claremount U.P. Church;
• May 1901 – Professor of Church history, New College, University of Edinburgh;
• Deputy Professor of Greek;
• Assistant Professor of Latin;
• 1912 – Lecturer in Church history, Westminster College, Vancouver, Canada;[3]
• 1915 – Moderator of the General Assembly of the United Free Church of Scotland.

From his biography: Life and times of Alexander Robertson MacEwen, D.D

• Chairman of Moffat School Board;
• Member of Glasgow School Board;
• Governor of Hutcheson's Schools;
• Secretary of Christian Unity Association;
• President of Scottish History Society;
• director of other trusts and societies; educational, charitable, and religious

• The Fasti of the United Free Church of Scotland, 1900–1929. Edited by the Rev. John Alexander Lamb. Edinburgh and London: Oliver & Boyd, 1956. p. 579.
• Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007
• A roll of the graduates of the University of Glasgow, from 1727 to 1897 : with short biographical notes / compiled by W. Innes Addison. Glasgow : MacLehose, 1898.
• http://www.gravestonephotos.com/public/cemetery.php?cemetery=602&limit=151
• David Smith Cairns (1862–1946),Life and times of Alexander Robertson MacEwen, D.D., Professor of Church History, New College, Edinburgh. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1925.
• Glasgow University Library catalogue: http://encore.lib.gla.ac.uk