Ministers of St John’s Kirk from the Reformation

The legal change of religion may have occurred on a particular day but the process of change took longer. Paisley with Archbishop Hamilton remained a “nest of papistry” for some time. It should be noted that Scotland was basically in a state of civil war at this time. It culminated in 1568 at the Battle of Langside and the defeat of Mary Queen of Scots by her half-brother James Stewart, 1^st Earl of Moray. He was Regent of Scotland for his half nephew the infant James VI from 1567 till his assassination in 23^rd January 1570. Archbishop Hamilton was involved in this assassination for which he was hanged 6^th April 1571. His death ended the last formidable opponent to the spread of the doctrines of the Reformers in Renfrewshire.

Another hinderance was the lack of ministers. It is thought they numbered around a dozen in 1560. Where there were no ministers, which was common in rural Parishes, the work of the ministry was left to readers, exhorters and the superintendent.

The first minister at the Parish of Lochwinnoch was Mr James Craw in 1574. He was also the parish minister for Kilmalcolm. The first reader in Lochwinnoch was Ninian Semple appointed in 1576. His stipend was “£16 Scots with the church lands.” He read prayers from Knox’s liturgy and portions of Scripture to the congregation. Neither the Reader nor the Exhorter could marry or dispense the Sacrements. The Superintendents role was to wipe out every trace of the old religion in their district. Even after ministers were appointed to parishes, the readers office appears to have been tolerated because they were useful as assistants to the ministers. The Westminster Assembly of 1643 brought an end to the role of readers.

By 1579 the minister at Lochwinnoch was a Mr William Cunningham. The process of change was difficult and it was reported that while he was riding in Paisley of that year he was accosted by adherents to the old religion. 

The next minister at St John’s was Mr Andrew Knox who was appointed sometime around 1580. He was a younger son of John Knox from Ranfurlie a family lineage which included the celebrated Reformer John Knox. He was minister for 5 years before being moved to Paisley.

In 1590 Renfrewshire was moved from the Presbytery of Glasgow to the new Presbytery of Paisley. Resistance to the new Religion still persisted and Mr Knox’s zeal against Catholics in Paisley was fanatical. He was so successful in his favourite occupation the King gave him a commission together with other noblemen to seek and apprehend “all excommunicate papists, Jesuits, seminarie priests and suspect trafficquaris with the King of Spayne and utheris foreynaris to the subversioun of Goddis trew religioun.” He is credited with helping to defeat an attempt by Hew Barclay of Ladyland to overturn the Protestant faith with the assistance of the Court of Spain. In 1606 he was promoted to the bishopric of the Isles till 1622 when he was appointed to the episcopal sea of Raphoe in Ireland. He died in 1632 in the 53^rd year of his ministry. He was disliked in Paisley and feared in the County. His “promotion” in 1606 may have been to cool things down.

Most of the “crimes” that came before the Court of the Presbytery were related to nonconformity either in faith or in practice. Attendance at church, especially at Communion was a key test of orthodoxy and absence therefrom a sure sign of Popish tendencies. Even with no suspicion of nonconformity absence from Communion or Kirk was often severely punished. The peasantry had regarded Sunday as a holiday from time immemorial, the reformers were content if half the day was given to religion and the other half social. A popular Sunday afternoon/evening recreation was to dance in the village green to the sound of pipes. However the ministers of the presbytery felt the entire day, except for a lunch hour, should be entirely devoted to attending services. From 1606 they took steps to stamp out this practice and the first “green” targeted, Little Caldwell, was well attended by the Parishioners of Neilstoun and Lochquhenoch. Eventually the practice was stamped out.

Between 1585 and 1596 Lochwinnoch shared a minister. In 1591 it was Thomas Younger minister of Inverkip and in 1593 it was Mr John Ross.

The fourth “full-time” minister of “Lochquinnoche” was Mr Patrick Hamilton from 1596 till 1607 when he was transferred to Paisley. The next minister of “Loquhynzoch” was the Rev. Alexander Hamilton who was appointed in 1611. He died in 1646 and was described by one historian as a “naughty man” and “ill reported of for adultery with my Lady Sempill”. It is recorded at this time that the Presbytery of Paisley was in a very unsatisfactory and deplorable condition. Insufficiency, drunkenness, heresy and other shortcomings prevailed amongst its members. The Parishes had been very indifferently served by their spiritual guides. Enter Mr Alexander Dunlop of the Abbey Parish Paisley. In the course of a few years he purged Parishes of incumbents who had not been very edifying or satisfying to them.

Lochwinnoch fell vacant in 1646 and Mr Dunlop managed to get Mr Hew Peebles as the next Lochwinnoch minister. He was pious and evangelical but in his 16^th year he was driven out by the Glasgow Act of 1662. 400 Presbyterian ministers were ordered to leave their manses and parishes forbidding them to reside within the bounds of their respective presbyteries – why? Because no funds were being collected for the upkeep of the Anglican bishops. Mr Peebles had to move to Forfar and confine himself to that town. He was brought before the Council in 1670 for failing to meet these obligations and required to confine himself to Dumbarton and a mile around it. When the ‘‘Act of Indulgence” was passed at Glasgow, in 1672, Mr. Peebles at first refused to avail himself of it; but afterwards complied, and was restored to his charge about the year 1676. With occasional interruptions, he continued to exercise his ministry at Lochwinnoch till the Revolution settlement in 1688, when he was fully restored to the possession of his office and emoluments. He died in 1691.

During Mr Peebles absence there were at least two Episcopalian ministers. Firstly, Robert Aird who was very strict in requiring parishioners to conform to Episcopacy reporting those who did not. Secondly, Maister William Cunninghame. He was more indulgent and forbearing than his predecessor. If parishioners answered their name at the start of the service but they then left he did not report them.

The 1600’s were a tumultuous period driven by that age old issue of who wants to be boss, King vs Parliament and Bishops (Episcopal) vs Assemblies (Presbyterian). Our own Patrick Hamilton (minister at Lochwinnoch 1596-1607) was front and centre in this turmoil which started with the Bishop Wars (1639/40).

In 1626 he was presented to the Parish of Cambuslang by James, Marquis of Hamilton (no relation). In 1638 he was a member of the momentous General Assembly of the Church of Scotland which proclaimed the National Covenant, abolished bishops and established Presbyterianism as the form of government for the Church of Scotland. This put them at odds with King Charles I, led to the civil wars and the execution of the King. The events leading up to this were Charles I in 1636 replacing the existing Book of Discipline with a new book of canons, excommunicated anyone who denied Royal supremacy in Church matters and introducing a revised Book of Common Prayer in 1637 which caused widespread rioting across Scotland. His association with the Marquis, who led some of the forces sent by Charles to quell the Covenanters, and a badly worded poem he wrote led to him being expelled from the Church and he died in extreme poverty in May 1658.

The English civil war continued throughout the 1640’s culminating with the death of Charles I in 1649. Although this period is referred to as the English Civil war there was, in parallel, civil wars within each of the realms of the Stuart dynasty, England, Scotland and Ireland. In 1643 an alliance known as the Solemn League and Covenant formed between the Parliamentarians and the Scottish covenanters. The Scots agreed to support the English Parliamentarians in their disputes with the royalists and both countries pledged to work for a civil and religious union of England, Scotland, and Ireland under a presbyterian–parliamentary system; it was accepted by the Church of Scotland (Aug. 17, 1643) and by the English Parliament and the Westminster Assembly (Sept. 25, 1643). Written by Alexander Henderson, the covenant was considered primarily a civil agreement by the English Parliamentarians, who needed military allies, but the Scots considered it a guarantee of their religious system. It was signed throughout England and Scotland, and in January 1644 the Scots sent an army to England. King Charles I, surrendered to them in 1646. When Oliver Cromwell and the Independents gained control of England, they had little sympathy for the Presbyterians and ignored the covenant. In 1647 Charles I accepted the covenant and was given Scottish military assistance, but he ultimately fell to the Independents and was executed in 1649.

The Scots declared Charles II King of Scotland on the death of Charles I. The future Charles II signed the covenant, along with the National Covenant (1638), in 1650 and 1651, securing Scottish support. In the end Charles II fled to France in 1651. Neither Cromwell’s Commonwealth nor King Charles II, after the Restoration (1660), honoured the covenants, and they were never renewed. Charles II ruled from 1660 till his death in 1685.

The next Presbyterian minister was the Rev. John Paisley in 1691. He refused a call to Foveran in Aberdeenshire in 1693. Again in 1709 he refused a call, this time to Glasgow. It was during his time that Lord Semple brought up as a Catholic changed his faith to Protestant. This success induced the minister to remain at Lochwinnoch. He was described “as a useful, faithful, laborious gospel minister, a man of great weight and authority among his people, where he had many seals of his ministry, and a set of grave, excellent elders. He was of a most kind, affectionate temper, and a firm, bold, honest man, and a serious, affectionate preacher, and very useful in this Presbytery”. He died in 1728 after an incumbency of 37 years.

Rev. John Pinkerton arrived in 1728 and after a ministry of 22 years he died 3^rd January 1750 at the young age of 50. He was staunch Calvinist in his religious views and notions of Church government. His ministry spanned the transitioning  of the Castle Semple Estate from the family of Semple to that of Colonel McDowall. This transition was a bit of a baptism of fire because the new owner almost immediately took actions that infuriated the parishioners by forcing those on the south side of the Loch to cross by the Kerse bridge or the Elliston bridge rather than the direct crossing in the middle of the Loch. He upset the heritor’s in 1731 by swapping Kirktown lands with equivalent land known as Macdonnalie to the east of the church. This was agreed to by the Presbytery and Rev. Pinkerton without heritor consent. Macdonnalie was to be the site for the new Manse which still stands today in that new location, although it is now a private residence. The residents of Kirktown were forced to take out charters from McDowall making him the feu superior and their former rents converted to feu duties. During this debacle parishioners deserted the church. Eventually things calmed down and parish affairs began to run as normal.

Rev John Couper was presented by the patron Mr McDowall in 1750. The settlement was unpopular, and there was some opposition. A number of serious people and respectable families left the Church and joined the Secession at Burntshield. He was the first minister of Lochwinnoch who belonged to what is called the “Moderate” party in Church politics; but all accounts agree as to his excellent scholarship and irreproachable character.

He was most attentive to his duties in the parish, and his care over the education of his family is shown by their attainments. His son, the Rev. James Couper, D.D., born at Lochwinnoch in 1752, was presented to the parish of Baldernock in 1783; and after having been upwards of 20 years minister there, he was presented by the Crown to the Chair of Practical Astronomy in the University of Glasgow, which he held for many years. Professor Couper died in 1836. Another son, William Couper, M.D., was a successful physician in Glasgow. These brothers each had a son who also became distinguished as medical men in Glasgow. William Couper, M.D., son of Professor Couper, was appointed by the Crown to the Professorship of Natural History, and his cousin, John Couper, M.D., son of Dr William Couper, was appointed also by the Crown as Professor of Materia Medica, these three Professors all occupying chairs at the same time in Glasgow College, a son and two grandsons of the parish minister of Lochwinnoch.

Rev Couper died 19^th September 1787 and was replaced by the Rev. James Steven on 15^th August 1788. He was chosen by the parishioners rather than imposed by William McDowall who held the patronage. He had been highly recommended by the Rev. Dr John Burns who was one of the most popular preachers of that day. The new minister was considered particularly well suited to his new role as his arrival coincided with the building of the “Old” and the “New” cotton mills in Lochwinnoch. Rev Stevens had experience of manufacturing being introduced to a parish. In 1874 a new mill was constructed at North Woodside. He saw firsthand how the mill owner understood the advantages of religion and good morals in promoting industry and happiness amongst his workforce. At Lochwinnoch Mr Stevens was a popular preacher and supported in his efforts to replicate the experience of North Woodside. At the Old mill Mr Burns who was related to Rev. Burns at Renfrew and Mr William Wright who followed him were both very keen on the wellbeing, morals and education of their employees. Similarly, Mr William Fulton at the New mill was off like mind.

During Rev Stevens tenure the possibility of war with France was increasing. He was chaplain of the Lochwinnoch Company of Volunteers and could be seen taking private instructions in the art of war from Sargeant Archibald Cameron in one of the fields of his glebe. He preached rousing sermons, stirring up his parishioners with “Fear God and honour the King”. 

His stipend consisted of 127 bolls of meal and barley etc which he converted to money by selling. He was a generous man and when folk came to purchase from him he would tell the kitchen maid “See that ye give good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over.”

His last communion was on the first Sabbath of June 1801. He preached on the next Sabbath, the “Thanks giving Sabbath” and died on the following Sabbath. His incumbency at Lochwinnoch was 13 years. In the new Parish Church hangs a plaque acknowledging a bequest of £50 to the poor of the parish by Rev. Stevens June 21st 1801, a photograph of it is shown below.

The last minister to preach in the old church of St John and first minister to preach in the new Parish Church on Chapel Street was Mr James Crawford. He took up his place in February 1802. Mr Crawford was lame and halted frequently while walking. On one occasion he overhead two uncouth youths’ comment “that’s a lame minister” to which Mr Crawford replied, “A lame man if you please, but not a lame minister!”

A meeting of the Presbytery along with the majority of the Heritor took place at the old Kirk on 15^th April 1806. The meeting was attended by James Connell (Masson), John Logan (Mason), David Gilmour (Wright) and Robert Campbell (Wright) who inspected the building listing a catalogue of serious structural issues. The roof appeared to be giving way and it was considered unsafe for the congregation to be sitting under it. As temporary supports, two large logs from Castle Semple were brought in as temporary supports. They looked uncouth within the church, but served a purpose. Some referred to them as Saul and Jonathan and others in a more masonic way called them Jachin and Boaz. It wasn’t long before the building was finally abandoned and a tent erected in the southside of the churchyard. The congregation either sat on the broad flat ‘‘thruch-stones” over the graves or brought their own chairs.

The decision was taken to build a new church on Chapel Street which was more central to the changing face of Lochwinnoch. The foundation of the new church was laid in 1807 and the new church opened on 2^nd October 1808.

The new Kirk consisted only of the Church and session house. It is thought that initially there was no gallery in the sanctuary and that it was added shortly afterwards. That doesn’t make sense from a construction perspective nor from the Presbyteries requirement that the new church should accommodate 1200 souls. That size was determined by heritors having to provide a church that could hold a third of the local population, 3500 at that time. Initially the floor was earthen with a few floorboards. Windows were of clear glass and there were two side doors where there are now windows with two doors to the rear. The walls were whitewashed, there was no lighting, heating came from coal stoves and ventilation was poor. Little changed for the first 100 years. The cost of construction to the heritor’s amounted to £2200.

Mr Crawford’s opening sermon was from Revelation xxi. 3, ‘And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.’ He only preached thirteen times because in early January 1809 when on his way to visit Mr .John Caldwell, of Lochside, who was on his death-bed, the minister had a paralytic shock between the Loch Bridge and Lochside House. He lived for a further five years but never recovered enough to preach again. He died on 7^th May 1814.