Southend Church History

SOUTHEND CHURCH HISTORY
(from http://www.southendargyll.org.uk/index.htm )
Before The Reformation – which in Scotland is usually stated as starting in 1560 – Southend consisted of two parishes:
Kilcolmcille and Kilblaan.
The ancient church of Kilcolmcille was dedicated to St.Columba and its ruins still stand in the graveyard at Keil, about
a mile through the village.
The original church and churchyard of Kilblaan – St.Blaan was said to be a nephew of Columba - were situated on the
east side of Conieglen Water (which runs behind this present church) on land which is now part of the farm of
Kilblaan. Erosion from the river – which is quite turbulent when in spate – eventually made it necessary to close the
church and build a new one on the mound where this church now stands.
This building, however, is the third church to stand here. The first church would have been a small thatched building,
the second a slated edifice without any seats which fell into disrepair around 1768. At that time the population of the
parish was 2000 and the part of the parish called the Learside was very thickly populated and consideration was given to
building the new church on Eden Farm.
However, with the Church of Kilcolmcille in such a bad state of repair that it was considered unsafe for worship, and
with old site being roughly in the centre of the parish, the current building was erected in 1774, a few yards west of the
original site, and St.Blaan’s became the parish church.
Slated and with seats in it, the roof of this church consists of Norwegian pine, brought directly from Norway by sea and
landed at the Port of Dunaverty. The porch and the choir stalls were added to the original building at the expense of
Ina, Dowager Duchess of Argyll who also, in 1911, installed the stained-glass windows in memory of her husband and
Queen Victoria. An earlier Duchess of Argyll, Elizabeth Tollemache, who died in 1735, had changed the name of the
parish to Southend.
The Duke of Argyll was the principal heritor and overlord of Kintyre and under the patronage system it was he who
chose and appointed ministers to serve in the parish. In 1794, the Duke presented Rev.Donald Campbell to this parish.
Donald Campbell was a bachelor and it is said that his behaviour and manner of life in the eyes of the people did not
become a minister of the Gospel! Apparently he indulged too freely at dinners and other social functions and was a
little neglectful about worship and his parish duties. For this reason the whole congregation decided to build another
church and call another minister of their own choosing.
Donald Campbell, meanwhile, changed his ways, and went on to become minister of Kilninver and Kilmelford and was
considered in his day to be one of the saintliest men in the Synod of Argyll. He became the father of Rev.John McLeod
Campbell of Rhu, one of Scotland’s greatest theologians and a controversial figure in the nineteenth century. (McLeod
Campbell was, to the Church of Scotland’s shame, deposed from the ministry in 1831 for preaching the doctrine of
universal atonement and for insisting that assurance is of the essence of faith. He later wrote the classic work, The
Nature of the Atonement.)
The Relief Church of Southend was founded in 1797 and built near the village, which was then called Muneroy.
However a dispute arose between those of Highland extraction, who wanted to call a Gaelic speaker, and the
Lowlanders who wanted their new minister to be English-speaking. Eventually it was decided, by a majority, to call an
English-speaker. Upset by this decision, the Highlanders left the new church and returned to the parish church to
1
which the Duke of Argyll continued to appoint ministers until the Disruption of 1843 when, thereafter, the
congregation chose their own minister. However this change occurred peacefully and agreeably in Southend because no
Free Church congregation was ever established here.
The new church, at Muneroy, joined The Relief Synod – which was against patronage – and became St.Columba’s. A
new building was opened in 1890 and the church was served by a succession of ministers until – having become part of
the United Free Church and then, since 1929, part of the present Church of Scotland – joint services began between
St.Blaan’s and St.Columba’s in 1943 and the two churches were united in 1946. Services at St.Columba’s (which is still
standing opposite the shop, though no longer used as a church).
A NOTE ABOUT THE MINISTERS OF THE PARISH
The first minister of Kilcomcille and Kilblaan – as Southend was then known – of which we have any authentic
knowledge was the Rev. Duncan Omey, whose family were proprietors of Keil Estate, known in 1611 as the Parson of
Kilcomcille, Omey was presented to the parish by the Bishop of Argyll in 1629.
It was once thought that there were no settled ministers in Southend from 1641 until the arrival of the Rev. David
Simson, from Killean and Kilkenzie, in 1672. However Angus MacVicar, the Southend writer and an elder in this
congregation, discovered some notes which his wife's cousin, Andrew McKerral, had taken from old records held by
the Duke of Argyll at Inverary Castle. These showed that the Rev. John Darroch had served the parish from 1641 until
1646.
Angus MacVicar then found out that John Darroch had been summarily deposed in 1646 for having had dealings with
the MacDonalds, an offence considered so heinous, Angus wrote, 'that his name had been erased from all the church
records'. (The following year an army commanded by General David Leslie and the Marquis of Argyll laid siege to a
retreating force of 300 MacDonalds in their castle on Dunaverty Rock. When the MacDonalds surrendered six weeks
later they were massacred, a slaughter which was said to have been instigated by Mr John Nevoy, a zealous covenanter
who had been appointed chaplain to Leslie's army).
The next three ministers, all Campbells, were presented to the parish by the Duke of Argyll. The last of these, Rev.
Donald Campbell, was presented in 1794, Donald Campbell was a bachelor and it is said that his behaviour and manner
of life in the eyes of the people did not become a minister of the Gospel ! Apparently he indulged too freely at dinners
and other social functions and was a little neglectful about worship and his parish duties. For this reason the entire
congregation decided to build another church, in the village, and call another minister of their own choosing.
The church they built, which became known as St. Columba's eventually joined The Relief Synod; the old church
was replaced by a new building (now disused) in 1890. The original document declaring their right and intention to call
their own minister can be found on the wall of the porch in this building (together with a printed transcription which is
easier to read).
Donald Campbell, meanwhile, changed his ways, and went on to become minister of Kilninver and Kilmelford and was
considered in his day to be one of the saintliest men in the synod of Argyll. He became the father of Rev. John McLeod
Campbell of Rhu, one of Scotland's greatest theologies and a controversial figure in the nineteenth century. (McLeod
Campbell was, to the Church of Scotland's shame, deposed from the ministry in 1831 for preaching the doctrine of
universal atonement and for insisting that assurance is of the essence of faith. He later wrote the classic work, the
nature of the atonement, which was published in 1856).
In 1833 another Donald Campbell became minister of the parish and eventually he too found himself in trouble. Rev.
Angus J. MacVicar described him as 'an amiable easy-going man, quite popular with the people but not so with the
leading elders', including the school master, who alleged that he was too fond of the bottle and brought a case against
him before presbytery. Donald Campbell was deposed in 1843 and, it is said, emigrated to Australia where he died in
1877.
Donald Campbell was the last minister to be presented to the parish under The Patronage Act and his successor, the
Rev. Colin Fisher Campbell was the first to be chosen by the congregation, with the approval of presbytery.
However, C F Campbell only ministered a year in Southend, moving to Kilbride parish in Arran in 1844. His successor,
the Rev. Dugald Campbell, was a bachelor, a great lover of music and a very able parish minister who served
Southend for 35 years from 1845 until he died in 1880.
2
The Relief Church was served by a succession of gifted ministers including Alexander Laing, Robert Small (who
was the grandfather of the Very Rev. Leonard Small, Moderator of the General Assembly in 1966), Andrew McLaren
Young (who still has descendants in Southend) and John Train.
However, the parish's longest serving minister, throughout its long history, has been the Rev. Angus John MacVicar
who was admitted to Southend from Duror of Appin, in March 1910 and served here until he retired in 1957. Born in
North Uist, Angus John was, like all his predecessors here, a Gaelic speaker, known by his sons as 'The Padre', he
oversaw the union after 157 years of the two local congregations – St. Blaan's in this building and St. Columba's in the
village – in 1946. He was clerk to the presbytery of Kintyre for 50 years, clerk to the Synod of Argyll for a period, a
County Councillor (who campaigned for council housing in Argyll in the 1930's) and, in 1952, the prime mover behind
the establishment of Auchinlee Eventide Home in Campbeltown. In retirement, Angus John MacVicar and his wife
Marjorie lived in the manse of St. Columba's in the village; she died in 1963, 'The Padre' in 1970.
Ministers of Southend since The Reformation
Parish Church
Rev.Duncan Omey 1611 - 1641

Rev.John Darroch 1641 - 1646
Rev.David Simson 1672 - 1680
Rev.David Simson (son of the above) 1685 - 1690
Rev.Dugald Campbell 1696 - 1741
Rev.David Campbell 1742 - 1793
Rev. Donald Campbell 1794 - 1798
Rev. John MacKeich 1799 - 1715
Rev. Daniel Kelly 1816 - 1833
Rev. Donald Campbell 1833 - 1843
Rev. Colin Fisher Campbell 1843 - 1844
Rev. Dugald Campbell 1845 - 1880
Rev. Peter Thomson 1880 - 1896
Rev. A.M.C. Tolmie 1896 - 1909
Rev. Angus J. MacVicar 1910 - 1957
Rev.James Marks 1958 - 1971
Rev. John Russell 1972 - 1978
Rev. William C. Nelson 1978 - 1987
Rev. Roderick H. McNidder 1987 - 1997
Rev. Callum O'Donnell 1997 - 2000
Rev. Martin R. Forrest 2001 - Present
Relief Church
Rev. Alexander Laing 1799 - 1842

Rev. James Lambie 1843 - 1862
Rev. Robert Small 1863 - 1873
Rev. Andrew MacLaren Young 1874 - 1913
Rev. John G. Train 1914 - 1920
Rev. John MacRae 1921 - 1926
Rev. Dr. James R. Cameron 1928 - 1931
Rev. Thomas Redpath 1932 - 1936
Rev. David S. Brown 1941 - 1943

Southend Church History

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Southend Church History

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Southend Church History

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

What were the original names and locations of the two parishes that became Southend?

What caused the building of new churches in the parish?

SOUTHEND CHURCH HISTORY

A NOTE ABOUT THE MINISTERS OF THE PARISH

Ministers of Southend since The Reformation

Rev.Duncan Omey 1611 - 1641

Rev. Alexander Laing 1799 - 1842

You might also like