Archibald Davidson

Archibald Davidson (c. 1732 – 1803) was a Scottish minister who was moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1788 and was principal of Glasgow University. Life He was born about 1732 in the manse in the village of Crawfordjohn in South Lanarkshire, the son of Rev Robert Davidson. He attended Glasgow University where he graduated M.A. in 1752. Later that year (in November), he was writing home from Göttingen University to William Cullen, a professor at Glasgow University. He wrote with a fluid confident style, had had conversations with the German professors and promised his friend a good German dictionary if he could find one. He was in the company of young Scottish gentlemen and noblemen, and his future career would depend on good connections and the patronage they would offer. Six years later, he was presented by the commissioner for William, Earl of Dundonald, who had electoral interests in the area, to Paisley High Kirk as 2nd Charge Minister, where he was ordained on 7 September 1758. He remained there for three years, and represented the Presbytery in the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1760. The following year, 1761, he transferred to the nearby Parish of Inchinnan. He was presented by the Patron and major Heritor, John Campbell of Blythswood, (who also had electoral interests in the area) on 17 December 1760, but was not able to take up the post until 20 October 1761, . suggesting he was opposed by some members of the Kirk Session (a not uncommon occurrence).