page_title: James Begg
section_title: Life
hierarchical_section_title: James Begg / Life
caption_attribution_description: English: Newington Free Church, now known as the King's Hall in Edinburgh
context_page_description: The Very Rev Dr James Begg DD was a Free Church of Scotland minister who served as Moderator of the General Assembly 1865/66.
context_section_description: He was born in the manse at New Monkland the son of Rev Mr Begg of the Church of Scotland. He studied Divinity at Glasgow University and was ordained by the Church of Scotland at Maxwelltown in Dumfriesshire in 1830. In 1831 he became assistant to Rev Dr Jones at Lady Glenorchy's Church in Edinburgh, and in 1832 moved to the Middle Parish Church in Paisley before being translated back to Edinburgh to serve Liberton parish in 1835.
  Begg left the established Church of Scotland at the Disruption of 1843. He then became minister in the Free Church of Scotland at Newington, Edinburgh, The church was one of the first built in Edinburgh after the Disruption and was designed by David Cousin in 1843. Begg was then living at 15 Minto Street. The church later secured a manse for him at 34 Blacket Place. In 1865 he succeeded Very Rev Patrick Fairbairn as Moderator of the General Assembly.
  Begg was a key figure in the foundation of the Scottish Reformation Society in 1850 and the Protestant Alliance, and was known not just for anti-Roman Catholicism but also his concern for working and living conditions. He was editor for The Bulwark or The Reformation Journal for 21 years from its beginning July, 1851. He also wrote frequently to The Witness, Hugh Miller's newspaper.
  Together with Thomas Chalmers, Begg was a major influence behind the colony houses of Edinburgh, which were built between 1850 and 1910 as homes for artisans and skilled working-class families by philanthropic model dwellings companies.  In the late 1850s, alarm at the high illegitimacy rates in the northeast counties led Begg to launch a moral crusade against the accommodation of unmarried male farm servants in bothies.
  Newington Free Church was later renamed St Paul's Newington (or New St Paul's) it is now best known as a music venue under the name of The King's Hall.
caption: Newington Free Church, now known as the King's Hall in Edinburgh
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