Rev. Alexander Whyte

Rev. Alexander Whyte of Fettercairn, Kincardineshire. Son of David Whyte, farmer of Clova. Educated King's College, Aberdeen. Initially became tutor to the family of Earl of Airlie, then schoolmaster at Auchterhouse (1813-17), before ordination in 1817. Married in 1827 Jane Farquhar (1806-43) daughter of Rev. James Shand, Marykirk and Margaret Farquhar. In 1829 'raised a Process of Augmentation, Modification and Locality of his Stipend, before the Teind Court against the Patron, Titulars and Tacksmen of the Teinds, Heritors and Liferenters and all others having or pretending to have interest in the Teinds of said Parish'.

Alexander Whyte and Jane Farquhar had four children: James Shand Whyte (b. 1828) went to Grenada where he died in 1859.; Margaret Helen Eliza (b. 1830); Alexander (b. 1835), joined Colonial Service in Uganda and was a prominent naturalist; Mary Georgina (b. 1843), married William Henderson, architect Aberdeen. The 1851 census showed Alexander Whyte widower still living at the Manse, Fettercairn with two daughters, Margaret and Mary.

Whyte wrote several religious tracts: The Duty of Power (Edinburgh, 1834), The Heritage of God's People (Edinburgh, 1837), The Lord's Supper (Edinburgh, 1839), An exposure of the Rev. William Nixon's erroneous statements as to Moderation and of his Unconstitutional Views as to tChrch Defence Associations and Intruding into the Parishes of his Brethren (Montrose, 1842). He died January 1858.

Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine (1827).

Edinburgh Evening Courant, 3/9/1829.

Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950, available through Familysearch.org

1851 Scottish Census, available through Ancestry.com

Hew Scott, Fasti ecclesiae scoticanae: the succession of ministers in the Church of Scotland from the reformation (Edinburgh, 1912), p. 463.

We are grateful to William Norton for his help compiling this entry.