John Jardine (1716–1766) was a Church of Scotland minister who served as Dean of the Chapel Royal, Dean of the Thistle Chapel and Chaplain in Ordinary to the King. He was a close friend of the Edinburgh author John Home (who was a distant cousin to his wife), and also of David Hume and Henry Home, Lord Kames.[1]

Life

Liberton Kirk
Tron Kirk on the Royal Mile

He was born on 3 January 1716 the son of Rev Robert Jardine, and his wife Janet Rannie. His father was minister of Cummertrees at the time of his birth but moved to Glencairn in 1719 and settled in Lochmaben near Dumfries in 1732.> There is no mention of any formal training but he was licensed to preach as a Church of Scotland minister by the Presbytery of Lochmaben in September 1736.[2]

It took five years to find a position, and only in July 1741 was he ordained as minister of Liberton parish, just south of Edinburgh. He was translated to Lady Yester's Church in the city in 1750 and in October 1754 moved to the Tron Kirk on the Royal Mile working under Rev George Wishart.[2]

St Andrews University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Divinity in 1758. In 1759 he was appointed Chaplain in Ordinary to King George II of Great Britain continuing as Chaplain to King George III on the death of the former. In 1761 he was created Dean of the Chapel Royal and in 1763 Dean of the Order of the Thistle.[3]

In the summer of 1763 Jardine met James Boswell at Lord Eglinton's house in London. Boswell described Jardine as "a hard-headed, jolly dog".[4]

He died suddenly while attending the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland on 30 May 1766 aged only 50.

His position at Tron Kirk was filled by John Drysdale.

Family

In 1744 he married Jean Drummond, eldest daughter of George Drummond, the Lord Provost of Edinburgh. The couple had several children.

Publications

Jardine worked on a history of the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745 but it was never published.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "John Jardine - minister of Tron Church | James Boswell .info".
  2. 1 2 Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae; by Hew Scott
  3. ↑ "Jardine".
  4. ↑ Boswell's London Journal 1762/3
  5. ↑ "NAS Catalogue - catalogue record".
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