Dr. Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847)
In 1905, when the charter members of the new congregation on the Mountain in Hamilton were challenged to choose a name they reached back into their Scottish Presbyterian roots and chose the name of perhaps the most illustrious Scottish Presbyterian clergyman of the 19th. Century.
Thomas Chalmers, a native of Fifeshire, was a graduate of St. Andrew's University and the University of Edinburgh. He was licensed to preach in the Church of Scotland in 1799. However, he had also excelled in mathmatics, and so he began a career in ministry while also holding a post as Professor of Mathmatics at St. Andrew's University.
In 1811, after a time of serious illness and some family bereavements, he had a personal religious experience which led him from a life of relative indifference to one of deep spiritual fervour. After ministering in Glasgow for 8 years he became Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of St. Andrew's and later Professor of Theology at the University of Edinburgh.
He was very deeply involved in the life of the Church of Scotland, serving as Moderator in 1831-32. By 1842, however, he had become the acknowledged leader of a group of protesting people within the Church of Scotland who argued for spiritual reform in the church and for the right of each congreagtion to choose its own minister.
In 1843 about one-third of the ministers in the Church of Scotland left the church and organized themselves as the Free Church of Scotland. Thomas Chalmers was not only the first Moderator of the Free Church he also became a Professor and the Principal of the theological college which the Free Church established in Edinburgh. This was a post he held until his death in 1847.
Thomas Chalmers is remembered not only as an outstanding preacher and teacher, but as one who gave leadership in caring for the poor and encouraging the church to become involved in charitable work and in the establishment of Sunday Schools. He had a tremendous influence on church life in Scotland in his era.
When fellow Scots on the Mountain in Hamilton began a new congregation almost 60 years after his death they chose to honour his memory by calling their new congregation Chalmers Presbyterian Church.
