REV. ROBERT ALEXANDER MITCHELL

The Rev. Robert Alexander Mitchell was inducted to Gilcomston on 25th January 1875, and remained our minister until he died, somewhat suddenly after an attack of pneumonia, on 31st October 1897. He was a native of Nairn, where his great grandfather, grandfather and uncle had been successive Sheriffs-Substitute, his father being a captain in the Royal Navy. Another uncle, Donald Mitchell, was the first Scottish missionary to India. Mr. Mitchell graduated from Edinburgh University with First Class Honours in Classics and Philosophy, and, during his divinity course at New College, acted as Assistant to the Professors of Logic and Moral Philosophy at the University. From New College, as holder of the Cunningham Fellowship, he spent two years studying on the continent, at Bonn and Berlin - the other holder of the fellowship being his friend James Candlish, later Professor in Glasgow.

On his return from the continent, Mr. Mitchell was licensed by the Presbytery of Edinburgh, and, for a time acted as Assistant to Principal Candlish (Dr. Macgilvray's conqueror) in Free St. George's. On 5th November 1864 he was inducted to the charge of Carnbee in Fife, from which he moved to East Kilbride in 1869, remaining there until he was called to Gilcomston as colleague and successor to Dr. Macgilvray, becoming sole minister on Dr. Macgilvray's death in 1880.

During his tenure of office much was done. In particular the remaining debt on the church buildings was cleared off and the halls were built. There was also a striking increase in the number of organisations connected with the church; for example, a Band of Hope was inaugurated in 1894, a Ladies Work Society, which later became responsible for the annual Sale of Work began in 1885, a Tract Distribution Society operated as a branch of the Women's Guild, and a Cycling Club was formed in 1896 - some of the routes chosen for outings of this club being very arduous.

One of the outstanding occasions in Mr. Mitchell's ministry can be pieced together from the records. On 12th June 1884 Mr. Mitchell announced to the Session that

"Isaac Cohen and his wife Rebecca Cohen who had been brought up in the Jewish religion, had embraced the Christian faith and were anxious to be admitted to the ordinance of baptism along with their children."

Mr. Mitchell was satisfied with their knowledge and character ... but let Miss Hunter take up the story.

"One outstanding event of his (Mr. Mitchell's) ministry was the baptism of a Jewish family. The church was packed. I was twelve years old at the time and was put at the end of the pew where I could see up the passage. I remember a dark haired man and a tall woman with a boy. I do not know if there were others in the family. A considerable time afterwards it was found that they had been baptised in another place. They would likely do it again as I expect they found it profitable. It was a great blow to Mr. Mitchell." [Source: Miss Hunter, who wrote her recollections of early Gilcomston for me while I was abroad in 1963-4 (F.L.)]

Despite this setback, Mr. Mitchell continued to be interested in missionary work at home and abroad. He fully supported the 1896 evangelistic campaign in Aberdeen and encouraged interest in the congregation. One married couple went out to the Gold Coast and soon after in 1894 Miss Elizabeth (Lizzie) Stewart went out as a missionary to Livingstonia. She taught there for some years and the congregation made several donations to the Livingstonia Mission to provide bursaries and prizes for her school, the Overtoun Institution. Some replies from the children of the school appear in early issues of the Gilcomston Record. In August 1901 Miss Stewart was married to Robert D. McMinn, a Missionary Teacher, and a son was born in July 1902. Unfortunately after returning home to their station at Bandawe, Livingstonia, Mrs. McMinn and the baby took sick. Both died within a week of each other in October 1902. This tragedy served to fix the church interest and for years an annual donation was sent to the Livingstonia Mission.

As would be expected from his academic qualification, Mr. Mitchell was a scholarly man, and also very shy and sensitive. Most of his work went into the preparations of his sermons, and apart from a few of these published during his life, he left literary proof of the quality of his mind only in "Scripture Beatitudes", a little tractate, and in "Words of Good Cheer", a copy of which is in the Special Collection of the University Library. Several times he was recommended for professorial positions within the Free Church, and for some years he acted as the examiner in Apologetics and Dogmatics, but he preferred the pastoral side of the ministry. The only time he ventured into public debate was during the Robertson Smith controversy when he spoke out for toleration.

But he was not the remote man that such a description might lead one to expect. He had many friends among his brethren as the variety of tributes to his memory in No. 13 of the Record make clear. In addition the wide variety of topics on which he lectured to the Woman's Guild show his breadth of interest. During his time also the Sunday School seems to have been very effective, as one would expect where the minister had been author of a series of Notes for Teachers. Finally the most revealing indication of his nature may be seen in his and his wife's adoption of an orphan of the congregation.

On the death of Mr. Mitchell, Professor James Iverach, a great friend of his, took over the duties as interim moderator in the vacancy. The actual task of ministry was taken up during the ten month vacancy by the Rev. Alexander Walker, who came from Australia. The only comment which we have on this period is not favourable. "Mr. Walker's sermons were mainly stories, and it was thought that he got them from a book called '1,000 Anecdotes suitable for the Pulpit.'" (Miss Hunter).