Patrick Balfour family tree » Robert Wodrow, Minister of the Gospel at Eastwood (1679-1734)

Personal data Robert Wodrow, Minister of the Gospel at Eastwood 

• He was born in the year 1679 in Eaglesham, East Renfrewshire, Scotland.
• He died on March 21, 1734 in Eaglesham, East Renfrewshire, Scotland, he was 55 years old.
• He is buried in Kirkyard, Eastwood, Renfrewshire, Scotland.
• A child of Robert WODROW and Anges Dunlop

Household of Robert Wodrow, Minister of the Gospel at Eastwood

He is married to Margaret Warner or Verner.

They got married

Child(ren):

1. Mary Wodrow  1709-????
2. Robert Wodrow, Minister of the Gospel at Eastwood  1711-1784 
3. Patrick Wodrow  1713-1793 
4. Ebenezer Wodrow  1714-1738
5. Margaret Wodrow  1717-????
6. William Wodrow  1718-1718
7. Marion Wodrow  1719-????
8. Janet Wodrow  1721-????
9. John Wodrow  1723-1725
10. Lillias Wodrow  1724-????
11. Martha Wodrow  1726-????
12. James Wodrow, MA., Minister of the Gospel at Stevenston  1730-????
13. Alexander Wodrow, secundus  1731-????
14. Peter Wodrow  

Notes about Robert Wodrow, Minister of the Gospel at Eastwood

e Church of Scotland," was born in Glasgow, in the year 1679. He was the second son of Mr James Wodrow, professor of divinity in the college of that city, a man of singular piety and learning. His mother, Margaret Hair, was the daughter of William Hair, the proprietor of a small estate in the parish of Kilbarchan, Renfrewshire. In this parent, he was equally fortunate as in the other. To all the piety of her husband, she added a degree of strength of mind, not often associated with her sex.

nd went through the usual course of academical education then adopted there, and which included several of the learned languages, and various branches of philosophy. Theology he studied under his father, and, while engaged in this pursuit, was appointed librarian to the college; a situation to which the peculiar talent which he already displayed for historical and bibliographical inquiry, had recommended him. This office he held for four years; and it was during this time that he acquired the greater part of that knowledge of the ecclesiastical and literary history of his country, which he applied, during the course of his after life, to such good purpose, as to have the effect of associating his name, at once honourably and indissolubly, with those interesting subjects. At this period he imbibed, also, a taste for antiquarian research, and the study of natural history, which introduced him to the notice, and procured him the friendship, of several of the most eminent men of the day. But all these pursuits were carefully kept subordinate to what he had determined to make the great and sole business of his life, the study of theology, and the practical application of its principles. To the former, he devoted only his leisure hours; to the latter, all the others that were not appropriated to necessary repose.

rsity, Mr Wodrow went to reside with a distant relation of the family, Sir John Maxwell, of Nether Pollook; and, while here, offered himself for trials to the presbytery of Paisley, by whom he was licensed to preach the gospel, in March, 1703. On the 28th of October following, he was ordained minister of the parish of Eastwood, near Glasgow, through the influence of the family with which he resided. Eastwood was, at that period, one of the smallest parishes in Scotland; but it was just such a one as suited Mr Wodrow: for its clerical duties being comparatively light, he was enabled to devote a portion of his time to his favourite studies in history and antiquities, without neglecting the obligations which his sacred office imposed upon him; and of this circumstance he appreciated the value so highly, that he could never be induced, though frequently invited, to accept any other charge. Glasgow, in 1712, made the attempt, in vain, to withdraw him from his obscure, but beloved retreat, and to secure his pastoral services for the city; and Stirling, in 1717, and again in 1726, made similar attempts, but with similar success. The sacrifices which he made, however, by rejecting these overtures, were amply compensated by the affectionate attachment of his little flock, who rejoiced in his ministry, and were made happy by the amiableness of his manners, and the kindliness of his disposition. Although the charge in which he was placed was an obscure one, Mr Wodrow’s talents soon made it sufficiently conspicuous. The eloquence of his sermons, the energy and felicity of the language in which they were composed, and the solemn and impressive manner in which they were delivered, quickly spread his fame as a preacher, and placed him at the head of his brethren in the west of Scotland.

n presbyteries, synods, or the General Assembly, he was remarkable for his punctuality. Of the latter, he was frequently chosen a member; and on occasions of public interest, was often still more intimately associated with the proceedings of the church, by being nominated to committees. In all these instances he took a lively interest in the matters under discussion, and was in the habit of keeping regular notes of all that passed; a practice which enabled him to leave a mass of manuscript records behind him, containing, with other curious matter, the most authentic and interesting details of the proceedings of the Scottish ecclesiastical courts of his time, now in existence.

thren of the commission in Edinburgh as to the best means of averting the evils with which it was supposed the Union would visit the church and people of Scotland; and, on the accession of George I., he was the principal adviser of the five clergymen deputed by the Assembly to proceed to London to plead the rights of the former, and to solicit the abolition of the law of patronage, of which he was a decided enemy. In this the deputation did not succeed. The law was continued in force, and Mr Wodrow, with that sense of propriety which pervaded all his sentiments and notions, inculcated a submission to its decisions. He did not deem it becoming the character of a Christian minister to be in any way accessary to acts of insubordination or of resistance to the laws of his country by irregular and unconstitutional means. The same feeling of propriety induced him to continue on friendly terms with those clergymen whose consciences permitted them to take the abjuration oath, although he, in his own case, resisted its imposition. But so far from taking offence at those who did, he exerted all his influence to reconcile the people to them, and to induce them to believe that compliance was no proof of apostasy.

ted with that work which has made his name so memorable, namely, "The History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland from the Restoration to the Revolution." This work, for which his integrity, candour, liberality of sentiment, and talents, eminently qualified him, he contemplated from an early period of his life; but it was only in the year 1707, that he began seriously to labour on it. From this time, however, till its publication in 1721 and 1722, a period of between fourteen and fifteen years, he devoted all his leisure hours to its composition.

of Mr Wodrow’s History, which was published in three large folio volumes at separate times, in the years above named, its author was attacked by those whom his fidelity as an historian had offended, with the vilest scurrility and abuse. Anonymous and threatening letters were sent to him, and every description of indignity was attempted to be thrown on both his person and his work. The faithful, liberal, and impartial character of the history, nevertheless, procured its author many and powerful friends. Its merits were, by a large party, appreciated and acknowledged, and every man whose love of truth was stronger than his prejudices, awarded it the meed of his applause. Copies of the work were presented by Dr Fraser to their majesties, and the prince and princess of Wales, and were received so graciously, and so much approved of, that the presentation was almost immediately followed by a royal order on the Scottish exchequer for one hundred guineas to be paid to the author, as a testimony of his majesty’s favourable opinion of his merits. The warrant for the payment of this sum is dated the 26th April, 1725. In 1830, a second edition of the History was published, in 4 volumes 8vo, by Messrs Blackie and Fullarton of Glasgow, under the editorial care of the Rev. Dr Burns of Paisley, now of Toronto, Canada.

end with the publication of his History. He afterwards planned and executed the scheme of a complete history of the church of Scotland, in a series of lives of all the eminent men who appeared from the beginning of the Reformation down to the period at which his preceding work commenced. This valuable production, which contains an accurate and comprehensive view of some of the most important and interesting events in the history of the kingdom, has never yet been entirely published. It lies still in manuscript in the library of the university of Glasgow.

ks, Mr Wodrow has left behind him six small but closely written volumes of traditionary and other memoranda regarding the lives and labours of remarkable ministers, and comprising all the occurrences of the period which he thought worth recording. These volumes are designated by the general name of Analecta, and the entries extend over a space of twenty-seven years, viz., from 1705 to 1732. The Analecta contains much curious information regarding the times of its author, and is full of anecdote, and amusing and interesting notices of the remarkable persons of the day. It is preserved in the original manuscript in the Advocates’ library at Edinburgh, where it is often consulted by the curious inquirer into the times to which it relates; so often indeed, that the greater part of it has found its way to the public, though in a disguised and unacknowledged shape, through the medium of various publications in which its matter has been wrought up with other materials.

quaintances and friends in different parts of the world, but this was no idle correspondence. He made it in all cases subservient to the purposes of improving his general knowledge, and of adding to his stores of information; and with this view he was in the habit of transmitting to his correspondents lists of queries, on subjects of general and public interest, and particularly on matters connected with religion, as they stood in their several localities. With all this labour, he regularly devoted two days in every week to his preparation for the pulpit, and bestowed besides the most assiduous attention on all the other duties of his parish.

General Assembly for his Arian sentiments, Mr Wodrow felt himself called upon as a minister of the gospel, and a friend to evangelical truth, to take an active part with his brethren against the professor. The latter, as already said, was suspended, but through a feeling of compassion the emoluments of his office were reserved to him; a kindness for which, it is not improbable, he may have been indebted, at least in some measure, to the benevolent and amiable disposition of the subject of this memoir. Soon after this occurrence Mr Wodrow took occasion, when preaching on the days of the 10th and 11th June, 1727, in the Barony church of Glasgow, to illustrate the divinity of the Saviour in opposition to the sentiments of the Arians and Socinians. These sermons had the effect of rousing the religious zeal of one of the former sect, a Mr William Paul, a student of theology, to such a pitch as to induce him, on the day following, to challenge Mr Wodrow to a public or private disputation or to a written controversy. This challenge, however, the latter did not think it prudent to accept.

Secession in 1733, Mr Wodrow decided and acted with his usual prudence, propriety, and liberality. He thought that those who approved of the sentiments and doctrines contained in the work from which the controversy took its name, viz., the "Marrow of Modern Divinity," went too far in their attempts to vindicate them, and that the Assembly, on the other hand, had been too active and too forward in their condemnation. On the great question about subscription to articles of faith, he took a more decided part, and ever looked upon the nonsubseribers as enemies to the cause of evangelical Christianity.

a mass of opinion and information regarding presbyterianisin in that country, which for interest and importance cannot be equalled.

f the History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland, was now, however, drawing to a close. His constitution had been naturally good, and during the earlier part of his life he had enjoyed uninterrupted health; but the severity of his studious habits at length began to bear him down. He was first seriously affected in 1726, and from this period continued gradually to decline till 1734, an interval of pain and suffering of no less than eight years, when he expired, on the 21st March, in the 55th year of his age; dying, as he had lived, in the faith of the gospel, and love to all mankind. His remains were interred in the church-yard of Eastwood, where his memory has lately been commemorated by the erection of a monument.

1708, to Margaret Warner, grand-daughter of William Guthrie of Fenwick, author of the "Trial of a Saving Interest in Christ," and daughter of the reverend Patrick Warner of Ardeer, Ayrshire, and minister of Irvine. He left at his death four sons, and five daughters. The eldest of the former succeeded his father in the parish of Eastwood, but was compelled to retire from it by an infirm state of health.

moir of the author, extracts from his correspondence, a preliminary dissertation, and notes by the Rev. Robert Burns, D.D., F.A.S.E. (1828) in four volumes (new edition)

MENT BY THE PUBLISHERS

o fully established as to render any culoghlin upon its merits altogether superfluous. Perhaps no history ever gave a more complete view of the period nor, in most instances, a more graphic description of the events which it professed to embrace. Possessing, at once, a fulness of detail that Inis left itrle to be supplied, and an accuracy with regard to [natters of lad that during the lapse of a century has never been successfully called in question, it has always been regarded as die grand depository of those maxims of justice and of truth which the invincible baud of Scottish Patriots, Confessors and Martyrs, watered with their blond, and roitseerated with their dying hearth, as the unalienable inheritance of their posterity. 1'rom this work, since the era of its publication, as from n common source, have been drawn all Ilie more respectable narratives approaching the men of those times; and to the information it contains, the most diligent compilers have been able to add almost nothing..

respect of typography and convenient size, it is vastly superior to the original one, is printed from it word for word, nothing being either added or omitted; Only, the original papers which In that edition form so many appendixes to each volume, are in this, printed at the font of (he pages to which they refer, and this has been done principally for the advantage of the reader in the way of easy reference. Typographical and other errors, in the names of persona and. places, particularly, have been corrected; and the “additions and amendments" inserted by the author at the beginning of his second volume, have been inserted in the places to which they severally belong. A few notes are added, partly original, and partly selected from extemporary authors, and millers of a later date, to which Wodrow could not be supposed to have accost. In these, brevity has been studied, and nothing has been hazarded either in the way of original remark or quotation, that did not seem necessary for the purposes of historical evidence and illustration.

, access to the author’s unpublished manuscripts, and opportunities of communicating with the surviving branches of his family, eminently qualified him for the task. To this Memoir are appended some valuable specimens of the Correspondence of Wodrow, from original MSS. These form a very appropriate and pleasing introduction to the History.

in London a new and improved edition of the works of Archbishop Leighton, preceded by a Life of the Author, by the Rev. John Norman Pearson, A. M., a clergyman of the Church of England, who now holds, we believe, the important attention of Principal to the Church Mission College- In that publication, Mr. Pearson, has been pleased to characterize Mr. Wodrxw as “a disingenuous Historian" and has in various instances given what we consider an unfair representation of the Covenanters and their times. We trust that the Parliamentary Dissertation to thia work, by Dr. Burns, will be found io contain a sufficient vindication of Wodrow and the Covenanters; and we request the attention of Mr Pearson hud his readers to the following Testimonies in favour of Wodrow: the reader will perceive that they are not all Presbyterians who so favourably characterize his work.

fidelity that has seldom been disputed; and confirmed, at the end of each volume, by a large mass of public and private records."

s has been rarely equalled: “I proceed not only to the notice, but to the strong recommendation of Wodrow’s History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland. Considering that these volumes have long richly deserved republication, one Is surprised that so valuable a work in so repulsive a garb (for it is most wretchedly printed) has been suffered to remain without improvement."

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found in Wodrow. In every instance where there has been an opportunity of comparing these accounts with the records, and other authentic monuments, they appear to be quite correct.”

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You are too well acquainted with my opinion of Mr. Wodrow's valuable History uf the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland, to make it necessary for me to say any thing on that head. It gave me great satisfaction to hear that a new Edition of the work, in a more portable form, and at a moderate price, was about to be printed at Glasgow. I have just seen the first number of that edition, and am much pleased with its neatness, and, so far as 1 have examined it, with its correctness. The information that you have agreed to superintend the publication; is to me all the pledge which 1 could desire for the accuracy with which it will be executed. Accept of my best thanks for the pleasure I have derived from reading your interesting Memoir of the worthy Author, which, together with the selections from his original Letters, must prove an acceptable and mast appropriate addition to the work.

p>drow's History of the Sufferings uf the Church of Scotland, to which I was led in the prosecution of my own historical researches, l can, with confidence, state, that it is a most valuable work. It comprehends a period deeply interesting; and the industrious and, highly intelligent Author has not only, with great clearance, and often with much feeling, detailed the sad events which it was his province to record; but he has collected an immense number of precious documents which are now nowhere else to be found, and which throw great light upon the opinions and manners of the age with which they arc connected. As the work had become so scarce as to be inaccessible to the generality of readers, the republication of it is, in my opinion, an essential service to the public.

p>“GEORGE COOK, D. D.

Kidd, D. D. Professor of Oriental Languages In Marischal College, Aberdeen — “The interval from 1660 till 1688 is not exceeded in interest by any other in the Annals of our country. The public affairs of this period, both in Church and State, are the most momentous that Scotland ever saw. To the struggles of our Protestant forefathers, during this time, we owe almost all tha liberty and light which we now enjoy; while the ruinous tendency of the Interference of wicked men with the affairs of the Church of Christ appears very evident, in the conduct of the rulers nf Britain in those eventful times.

ed every circumstance which he relates, and his descriptions are given with singular accuracy and unadorned simplicity. The subtilty and perfidlousness of Archbishop Sharp are related with a plainness that indicates, neither hatred nor asperity on the part of the writer; while the tale is so recorded, as so awaken all the sympathies of the reader’s heart for the hapless victims of persecution. Indeed, were there nothing to recommend Wodrows History but his description of the behaviour of ihe Marquis of Argyip and the Rev. Mr. James Guthrie, the Work ought tu be possesed and read by every true Presbyterian, and by all to whom the memory of the covenanted cause is dear.

now offered to the public is the cheapest ever published, and I account it a privilege to recommend to my fellow-citizens and countrymen this faithful Narrative of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland.

They are all derived from the most authentic sources, and are executed in the best style. We have been exceedingly anxious to obtain a true portrait nf the historian himself; but after a laborious search among the descendants of his family still in Scotland, we have been disappointed in our wishes. It is not impossible that such a thing may be in the possession of those descendants of the family now in America and who have been written to on that point: if so, our readers shall be favoured with it as soon as it reaches us.

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