The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-04-08 00:00:00

A FAMILY OF CENTENARIANS.

Arrangements are being made to celebrate a few weeks
hence the anniversary of the birth ot the Rev. Dr. Ingram,
of Unst, the furthest north of the Shetland Islands. who on
Monday (says The Times) attained his 100th year. " A Free
Churchman' Lends us a brief sketch of his life, from which
we extract what follows :
" He was born in the parish of Logie-Coldstone, in
Aberdeenshire, on the 3rd of April, 1776. His father
lived to the age of 100, and his grandfather to the age of
115. Both occupied a farm in the Dough, in the parish
just mentioned. He became a student of. iKing's Col-
lege when 15 years of age, having gained the highest
com Petition bursary given at the time. In 1795 he
entered the Div:bity Hall at Aberdeenand in 1800
was licensed as n preacher of the Established Church
of Scotland by the Presbytery of Shetland. He after-
wards assii.ted the Rev: James Gordon, minister of
Fetlar and North Yell. In 1803, on Mr. Gordon's death,
at the unanimous request of the congregation, he was
presented to the vacant living by Lord Dundee, and
in the came year he married the daughter of the Rev.
James Barclay, minister of ITust, and sister of Dr.
Archibald Barclay, late secretary to the Hudson's Bay
Company, and of Dr. Thomas Barclay, the late Prin-
cipal of the University of GlasgoVOil ,In discharge of
his Clerical duties he crossed a sterrity tideway of six
-„ Wlt en! 1,

miles to preach in Yell on alternate Sundays until
1821, when Lord Dunth's pregented him with another
charge—that of the parish of Unfit, which had become
vacant. His predecessor, the Rev. John Nicholson,
had not zealously discharged his duties, and at first he
had to contend with much ignorance and vice. These
evils, however, he laboured indefatigably to redress by
,getting schools erected, by thef onndation of a temperance
'society, and by the firm exercise of church discipline.
'Thanks to his efforts, a marked change was effected
'both in the general intelligence and morality of the
'people, so that, in these respects, they at the present
'day may vie with any population in the United King-
'dom. In 1838 his son, who had been educated at the
University of Edinburgh, and had been licensed aa a
;preacher of the Establi,hed Church, was, by the pre-
!sentation of Lord Zetland and the cordial concurrence
of thf congregation, settled as his assistant and succes-
sor. Both father and son took a warm interest in the
'struggle terminated in the disrupti.in of the Scotch
IChurch in 1q43; and, though firmly atta -hed to the
'principle of an Establishment, they left the Church,
ltaking with them a large majority of their parishioners.
;Considerable inconvenience was for some time expe-
rienced from the want of a place of worship, and
Divine service was conducted and the Sunday-school
held in the open air until a tent was erected over a
small garden, which served as a church during the
summer months. In the meantime, through the libe-
rality of the Countess of Effingham, to whom Dr.
Chalmers had mentioned the circumstances, two
churches were erected ; one of them had been roofed
in, and was in a state for sheltering the congregation,
when a gale of wind tore the tent to pieces. For many
years the father and son preached alternately at the
two churches, which are six miles apart, until Dr.
Ingrain, from decaying strength, was obliged to con-
fine himself to the church close to his dwelling-house.
At the age of 60 Dr. Ingram set himself to the study
of Hebrew, which was not taught at Aberdeen in his
college days, and he so far mastered the language as
to be able to read with ease any passage in the Bible.
Much later in life he acquired a respectable knowledge
of German. In 1864 he received the degree of D.D.
from the University of Glasgow. Until about four
years ago he was able to preach occasionally. Since
then, through physical infirmity and falling memory
and sight, he has felt himself unfit for public
duty. His voice, however, remains strong and
firm, and his general health is excellent. He
has a wonderfully distinct remembrance of the
scenes and circumstances of his early days, and even
now he is in the habit of reciting long passages from
the Latin classics. In 1871 the Rev. Dr. Guthrie
visited Unst, and on his return to Edinburgh exerted
himself to procure subscriptions for a portrait of Dr.
Ingram, and the artist, Mr. Otto Leyde, was com-
missioned to repair to Unst and take his likeaess. The
result was an excellent life-like portrait, which was
proaontea to the Free Church, and a copy of it, to-
gether with a silver tea-service bearing a suitable in-
scription, was sent to Dr. Ingram to be preserved as
an heir-loom in his family. Dr. Ingram had a high
reputation as an evangelical preacher, and throughout
the whole of his long ministry has enjoyed great
popularity with his congregation.