# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Magill, Robert

​MAGILL, ROBERT (1788–1839), Irish presbyterian clergyman, son of George Frederic Magill and Sarah Boyd, was born on 7 Sept. 1788 in the village of Broughshane, near Ballymena, co. Antrim. When he was ten years old the Irish rebellion broke out, and in his manuscript autobiography there are some vivid pictures of the scenes which he witnessed in connection with it. After attending local schools taught by pedagogues named O'Hara, Alexander, and Millan, he himself became a teacher, first at Ballyportre, near Loughguile, in his native county, and afterwards in Broughshane. In 1811, having determined to study for the church, he placed himself under the tuition of the Rev. John Paul, D.D., of Carrickfergus, and in 1813 matriculated in the university of Glasgow, walking, according to the custom of Ulster students of that day, to Donaghadee, a distance of over thirty miles, thence crossing, in a passage of twelve hours, to Portpatrick, whence three days were spent in walking to Glasgow. He gained several honours, graduating M.A. at the university in 1817, and in addition to his proper professional studies attended several of the medical classes. His poetical gifts had already manifested themselves, and two poems which he wrote while at college, ‘The Fall of Algiers’ and ‘Currie's Elegy,’ were thought worthy to be recited by the public orator. During the long vacations he taught school in Broughshane. On 11 Aug. 1818 he was licensed by the presbytery of Ballymena, in connection with the synod of Ulster, and on 20 June 1820, having received a unanimous call, after four Sundays of ‘trial,’ was ordained in Antrim as assistant and successor to Alexander Montgomery, minister of Mill Row presbyterian church there. He soon acquired reputation as a preacher. ‘He had a vivid imagination, and certain tones of his voice were so exquisitely tender that when touching on particular subjects he could almost at once melt an auditory into tears’ (Reid, History of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, 1st edit. iii. 555, note). His congregation increased greatly under his care, and a very large new church was built for its accommodation. In the church courts, which were then agitated over the Arian controversy, Magill sided strongly with the orthodox party. At the suggestion of Dr. Henry Cooke [q. v.], the leader of the evangelicals, he wrote in 1828 ‘The Thinking Few,’ Belfast, 1828, the work by which he is best known. It is a satirical poem of considerable power, directed against the Arians, and had a very large circulation. It was published anonymously. Six years later he published his ‘Poems on Various Subjects, chiefly Religious,’ Belfast, 1834, some of which are marked by a deep vein of poetic sentiment. Several of them had previously been printed separately in Glasgow. Some of Magill's unpublished pieces possess even higher merit than those which have been printed. He died on 19 Feb. 1839, and is interred in the churchyard of Donegore. He was married in 1823 to Ann Jane, daughter of Samuel Skelton, agent to Lord Massereene, by whom he had a son, William John, who died in childhood, and a daughter, Sarah, who became wife of Robert Young, esq., an eminent Belfast civil engineer.
[Manuscript Autobiography and Journals in the possession of his grandson, R. M. Young, esq., B.A., C.E., Belfast.]
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