Author: Magill, Robert
Biography:
MAGILL, Robert (1788-1839: ODNB)
He was born at Broughshane, near Ballymena, Antrim, to George Frederic Magill and Sarah (Boyd) Magill. As a boy, he witnessed the 1798 United Irish rising and recorded what he saw in his diary (unpublished). He attended local schools and became a teacher but, on deciding to study for the church, he was tutored in Carrickfergus before entering the University of Glasgow in 1813. He attained his MA in 1817, was licensed by the presbytery in Ballymena in 1818, and ordained to a church in Antrim in 1820. He was known as a gifted preacher and the congregation increased under his ministry. He was twice married: to Ann Jane Skelton (1803-32) in 1823 and, in 1838, to Ellen Liggat. With his first wife he had a son and a daughter. During the Arian controversy he sided with the orthodox side; his anonymously-published The Thinking Few, his best-known work, is a satirical poem against the Arians. He died at Antrin and was buried in the churchyard of Donegore. (ODNB 11 Nov 2019)
Other Names:
- R. Magill