John Guthrie

Who was John Guthrie?

John Guthrie was a Scottish prelate active in the first half of the 17th century. The son of the goldsmith Patrick Guthrie and Margaret née Rait, in 1597 he completed an MA at the University of St Andrews, becoming a Reader at the church of Arbroath in the same year. Two years later, on 27 August 1599, he became minister of Kinnell parish church in Angus. In the following years he was translated to various churches. In 1603, he became minister of Arbirlot parish, Angus. In 1617, he became minister in the city of Perth, before, on 15 June 1621, becoming minister of the parish of St Giles in Edinburgh.

Guthrie used his appointments as a platform for involvement in the national church. As minister of Arbirlot, he was one of the commissioners of the Presbytery of Arbroath at the Glasgow assembly of 1610. Later in that year, he got elected as clerk of the synod of St Andrews. He was a member and commissioner of the Perth assembly in 1618. In this period he established himself as an ardent supporter of the crown and its episcopalian policies. It was this that brought him the prestigious and important charge of St Giles in 1621.