Henry Duncan
Henry Duncan - A Famous Scottish Clergyman
Henry Duncan (1774 - 1846) From 1798 until his death, he was minister at Ruthwell in Dumfriesshire. His early training in the commercial world, which he had left to study for the ministry, led him to realise the value of savings to his parishioners, and in 1810 he established at Ruthwell the first Savings Bank. Through his efforts in speeches, lectures, and pamphlets, as well as by expenditure from his own income, the movement spread over the whole country. He was a man of many parts, an antiquarian who discovered the Ruthwell runic cross and a geologist who pointed out the footmarks of quadrupeds in the New Red Sandstone of Corncockle Muir, as well as a prolific writer of pamphlets. He sided with the evangelical party in the Church, and was moderator of the general assembly in 1839.
Back to