Rhugarbh Free church still stands, now converted into a lovely home.
Rhugarbh Church (1844-1984) - (No access, private dwelling)
Following the Disruption a Free Church was made 3 miles north of Benderloch at Rhugarbh. Rev. Hugh Fraser, having had to leave the Ardchattan Manse, was obliged to live in Oban until he retired in 1850 after 43 years of Ministry in Ardchattan.
Lamp from Rhugarbh, now in St. Modan's
Portrait of Rev. Fraser in a memorial window
He was succeeded in the Free Church by the Rev. John Sutherland, the first occupant of the Ardchattan Free Church manse, who celebrated his jubilee in the ministry in 1910. His ministery was followed by those of Rev. Donald Cameron, Rev. Alexander MacKinnon and in 1927 the Rev. R.P. Aitchison. He moved to Mallaig in 1933 following the 1929 Union of Established and United Free Churches. Rhugarbh Church continued in use until the early 1980's when it was sold and converted into a private residence.
publication - image held : Lochnell Barcaldine refusal of Free Church site 1840s publication from Jstor
He was succeeded in the Free Church by the Rev. John Sutherland, the first occupant of the Ardchattan Free Church manse, who celebrated his jubilee in the ministry in 1910. His ministery was followed by those of Rev. Donald Cameron, Rev. Alexander MacKinnon and in 1927 the Rev. R.P. Aitchison. He moved to Mallaig in 1933 following the 1929 Union of Established and United Free Churches. Rhugarbh Church continued in use until the early 1980's when it was sold and converted into a private residence.
The stone building we see now was started in 1843, paid for with a grant from the Earl of Breadalbane.
The congregation was considerable - over 340 souls.. illustrating the size of the community around Ferlochan and Rhugarbh
It is very likely that there was some sort of a kirk here before, maybe a wooden construction?
Rev. Hugh Fraser was the first Minister of the new building, moving here from Ardchattan at the time of the Disruption.
Archives
GD112 Papers of the Campbell Family, Earls of Breadalbane (Breadalbane Muniments) GD112/51/207 Title Letters with Petitions to Ormelie and Others
Dates 6-7 May 1846
14. 7 May. Hugh Fraser, minister, Free church, Ardchattan, Oban. Oban, Argyllshire. (Sites.)
GD112 Papers of the Campbell Family, Earls of Breadalbane (Breadalbane Muniments) 1306-20th century
GD112/51 Ecclesiastical Documents
7. 1846 August 13. Oban.
Letter from Hugh Fraser, minister, Free church, Ardchattan, Oban, to Breadalbane.
Blessed as he is with a family of nine sons and two daughters, he asks for interest for James, at present a student at Edinburgh, who wishes an appointment as assistant surgeon in HM service, or, preferably in service of the HEIC.
In the census of 1851
- Nicol McIntyre, living in the Rhugarbh township, in the house of his unmarried sister Catherine, was described as Free Church Catechist. (in 1841 he had been the head of the household)
SCAN catalogue
Person Code NA6765
Forenames Alexander Campbell
Surname Fraser
Dates 1819-1914
Epithet philosopher, professor
Activity Professor Alexander Campbell Fraser, DCL LL D, philosopher, was the son of Hugh Fraser, minister of Ardchattan and Maria Helen Campbell. He was educated at home and at fourteen he started to study for the ministry at Glasgow University, but for health reasons transfered to Edinburgh. When the disruption came he, like his father and teacher, sided with the seceders, and in 1844 he was ordained as a junior minister of the Free Church of Cramond. In 1846 he took the chair of Logic and Metaphysics at the theological college of the Free Church in Edinburgh, and in 1856 he was elected to the professorship at the University of Edinburgh a post which he held until 1891. Fraser was editor of North British Review, 1850-1857. He was Gifford Lecturer on Natural Theology in Edinburgh, 1894-1896. Fraser also acted as Dean of the Faculty of Arts from 1859 and as the representative of the senatus in the university court from 1877. He married Jemima Gordon Dyce (d 1907) in 1850, and they had three sons and two daughters.
Fraser was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1903. Fraser was awarded Hon DCL, Oxford, 1883; Hon LL D, Princeton; 1856; Glasgow, 1871; Edinburgh, 1891; Aberdeen, 1906; and Hon Litt D, Dublin, 1902; FRS Edin, 1858; Fellow of the British Academy, 1903. His publications include: Berkeley's Life and Works, 1871; The Philosopy of Theism, 1895-1896; Biographia Philosphica, 1904; Essays in Philosophy, 1846-1856; Locke, in Philosophical Classics, 1890; Berkeley and Spiritual Realism, 1909.
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