Walter Chalmers Smith
Rev Walter Chalmers Smith DD LLD (5 December 1824 – 19 September 1908), was a hymnist, poet and minister of the Free Church of Scotland, chiefly remembered for his hymn "Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise". In 1893 he served as Moderator of the General Assembly for the Free Church of Scotland.[1]
Life
He was born in Aberdeen, the son of Walter Smith, a cabinet-maker living at 16 Blackfriars Street.[2] He was educated at Aberdeen Grammar School.
He studied divinity at Marischal College in the University of Aberdeen and New College, Edinburgh.[3]
He received the honorary degrees of D.D. and LL.D. He was mentioned in Lord Adam Gifford's will.
He died at Kinbuck near Dunblane on 19 September 1908.[4] He is buried in the grave of his father-in-law, Rev James Monteith, in Warriston Cemetery in north Edinburgh. The grave lies just south of the central vaults.
Family
He was married to Agnes Monteith (1830–1886) daughter of Rev James Monteith.
Artistic Recognition
He was painted by Sir George Reid RSA.[5]
Service
He was ordained pastor of the Chadwell Street Scottish Church, Pentonville, Islington, London, on Christmas Day, 1850. He later served at:
- Roxburgh Free Church, Edinburgh
- Orwell Free Church, Milnathort, Kinrossshire (1853–58)
- Free Tron Church, Glasgow
- Reid Memorial Church, Edinburgh
- Free High Church, Edinburgh (1874–84)
The Free Church of Scotland elected him its moderator during its Jubilee year in 1893. He was a distinguished preacher and a man of catholic sympathies.
Published works
see[6]
- The Bishop's Walk (1860)
- Hymns of Christ and the Christian Life (1867)
- Olrig Grange (1872)
- Borland Hall (1874)
- Hilda Among the Broken Gods (1878)
- Raban, or Life Splinters (1880)
- North Country Folk (1883)
- Kildrostan (1884)
- Thoughts and Fancies for Sunday Evenings (1887)
- A Heretic and Other Poems (1890)
He attained considerable reputation as a poet. Some of these were written under the names of "Orwell" or "Hermann Kunst".
Hymns
References
- ^ Discipleship Ministries. "History of Hymns: “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise” - Discipleship Ministries | Equipping World-Changing Disciples". umcdiscipleship.org. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
- ^ Aberdeen Post Office Directory 1825
- ^ "Walter Chalmers Smith". The Cyber Hymnal;. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - ^ "Walter Chalmers Smith - Dictionary of Hymnology". hymnology.hymnsam.co.uk. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
- ^ "Rev. Walter Chalmers Smith, 1824 - 1908. Free Church minister and poet | National Galleries of Scotland". nationalgalleries.org. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
- ^ "Walter Chalmers Smith (1824-1908). Critical and Biographical Essay by William Garrett Horder. Alfred H. Miles, ed. 1907. The Sacred Poets of the Nineteenth Century". bartleby.com. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
- ^ "Earth was waiting, spent and restless" (PDF). Retrieved 21 March 2008.
- ^ "Immortal, invisible, God only wise". The Cyber Hymnal;. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
Further reading
Bailey, Albert Edward (1950). The Gospel in Hymns. New York: Charles Scribner's sons. pp. 455–456. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Julian, John (June 1907). A Dictionary of Hymnology. London: John Murray. p. 1064. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
"Gifford Lecture Series". Retrieved 30 January 2007. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London: J. M. Dent & Sons – via Wikisource.
External links
- Biography at the Cyber Hymnal;
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
