He was born in
Camlachie in central Scotland on 3 May 1803. His father John Nixon was a merchant in Glasgow.[2]
He studied at
Glasgow University from 1814 aged only 10 (14 was then the norm to attend university). However he did not graduate until 1825.[1] He then assisted at
Whitsome in the
Scottish Borders for 5 years.[2]
He was ordained by the
Church of Scotland in 1831. He was assistant to Andrew Robson at Newcastle upon Tyne.[3] He was installed at
Hexham in
Northumberland (the Scottish churches were also represented in the north of England).[4] In 1833 he was translated to St John's Church in
Montrose to replace the Rev Thomas Liddell.[5]
In 1863 he succeeded Rev
Robert Candlish as Convenor of the Free Church Education Committee and was one of the main forces in the creation of the 600 Free Church schools and organised their transfer to the state in the Education Act of 1872.[7] In 1868 he succeeded Rev
Robert Smith Candlish as
Moderator of the General Assembly, the highest position in the Free Church.
He retired in 1876 and moved to
Edinburgh living at 3 Seton Place in the
Grange.[8] In 1892 he relocated to
Burntisland to be near family and he died there of influenza on 24 January 1900 aged 96.[1][9]
His position at St Johns Free Church was filled by Rev George S Sutherland.
Publications
Introductory Essay to Mair's Explanation of the Assembly's Shorter Catechism (Montrose, 1837)
Remarks on Christian Education (Edinburgh, 1838)[10]
Reply to Anti-Endowment Speakers and Defence of Church Extension Scheme (Glasgow, 1839)[10]
Civil and Spiritual Jurisdiction, a sermon (Edinburgh, 1840)[10]
The Free Church Monthly, via Ecclegen, June, 1900, Obituary. Edinburgh: Free Church of Scotland. 1900.
"Church of Scotland Foundations". The Journal of the Presbyterian Historical Society of England 1942-05. 7 (3). United Reformed Church History Society:
127. 1942.