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2024 Week 13: Worship #52Ancestorsin52Weeks

Over the course of my many years of research, I have come across a few direct ancestors whose life was not only shaped by their religious beliefs but who actually ministered to those beliefs. 

My 7 x great grandfather, John Bradfute, was born in 1639. He graduated with an M.A. from the University of Edinburgh in 1658 and, at some point after that, decided he wanted to become a minister in the Church of Scotland.  He was ordained as the minister at Pettinain, a small parish in present day South Lanarkshire in 1689. On the Scotland's Churches Trust website, the church is described as " a fine example of a rural parish church with outstanding views over open countryside". That might not have changed since John delivered his sermons there.  The original church had been established in the 12th century and the present day church dates from the late 17th century. 

Pettinain Church   Source:https://canmore.org.uk/site/47649/pettinain-church

John died in 1709 and his son James, my 6 x great grandfather followed in his father's footsteps,  ministering at Dunsyre, (also in present day South Lanarkshire) in 1713. His marriage record, four years later to Jean Mure, describes him as 'Minister of the Gospel'. His church at Dunsyre is no longer the original one, it having been restored and rebuilt in the early 1800s.

The family tradition of entering the church continued down another generation, when James' son,  John also entered the ministry, and also preached in the Dunsyre Kirk.

These three were typical rural ministers. Another minister in my family tree, but much further back is the Reverend Hans Hamilton, my 10 x great grandfather on a different line. Whereas the Bradfute family ministers seem to have led a low key small parish life, Hans Hamilton was quite different. Son of Archibald Hamilton of Raploch,  Hans Hamilton was the first Protestant minister of Dunlop in Ayrshire. He ministered there from 1583 until 1606. He and his wife, Janet Denham were married for 45 years and had six sons and one daughter. The eldest of his sons, James Hamilton, became the 1st Viscount of Claneboye and was a founding member of the Protestant Church in northern Ireland. He had been chosen by King James VI of Scotland, I of England to lead the plantation of the Scots into Ulster. If you want to know more you can read about him here:

James Hamilton erected a tomb to his father, my 10 x great grandfather Hans, in Dunlop graveyard in 1641. It is still there, complete with stone sarcophagus and marble statues of Hans and his wife, Janet,  having been restored with funding from many sources including Historic Environment Scotland, as well as the Clan Hamilton Society in the USA. 
 
The Hans Hamilton tomb in Dunlop.



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