Andrew Kennedy Hutchison Boyd (1825-1899)

Scottish author and divine, was born at Auchinleck manse in Ayrshire on the 3rd of November 1825. He studied at Kings College, London, and at the Middle Temple, with the idea of practising at the English bar. Returning to Scotland, however, he entered Glasgow University and there qualified for the Scottish ministry, being licensed as a preacher by the presbytery of Ayr. He served in succession the parishes of Newton-on-Ayr, Kirkpatrick-lrongray near Durnfries, St Bernards, Edinburgh, and finally, in 1865, became minister of the first charge at St Andrews. Here he advocated an improved ritual in the Scottish church, his action resulting in the appointment by the general assembly of a committee, with Boyd as convener, to prepare a new hymnal. In 1890 he was appointed moderator of the general assembly, and fulfilled the duties of the position with admirable dignity and tact. He died at Bournemouth on the 1st of March 1899. Dr Boyd was a very famous preacher and talker, and his desultory essays have very much of the charm of his conversation. Among his numerous publications may be specially mentioned the two works (each in three series), Recreations of a Country Parson (1859, 1861 and 1878), and Graver Thoughts of a Country Parson (1862-1865 and 1875); he also wrote Twenty-five Years at St Andrews (1892), and St Andrews md Elsewhere (1894).