Author: Ritchie, John
Biography:
RITCHIE, John (1782-1861: ancestry.co.uk)
He was born at Mauchline, Ayrshire, to Margaret (Howie) and Andrew Ritchie of Dykefield farm, and baptised on 23 June 1782. Details about his education are sparse, but he earned his AM and DD, and became a minister at the non-conformist Clerk’s Lane Congregation, Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, before moving to the chapel at Potterrow, Edinburgh. He married Margaret Brocket on 19 Apr. 1814 in Kilmarnock and they had eight children. 1841 and 1851 census records show the family living on Salisbury Street, Edinburgh. The 1861 Census shows them still living in Salisbury Street with four daughters and four grandchildren. He died on 14 May 1861 and was buried on 20 May in the East Preston Street burial ground where there is a memorial. His publications include sermons, writings about church affairs, and one other poem, The Crucifixion (1852). (ancestry.co.uk 3 Sept. 2020; 25 Mar. 2025) SR