Robert Wallace

Who was Robert Wallace?

Robert Wallace was a Scottish writer who had a remarkably varied career as a classics teacher, minister, university professor, newspaper editor, barrister and finally a member of parliament. He was born on 24 June 1831 at Kincaple near St. Andrews, Fife, and was the second son of Jasper Wallace, a gardener, and Elizabeth Archibald. He was educated at the Geddes Institution, Culross, Fife, and at the University of St. Andrews where he graduated M.A. in 1853. He was awarded the degree of D.D. by Glasgow University in 1869. He married Margaret Robertson on 10 March 1858 and they had six sons and one daughter. While he was minister at Old Greyfriars Church in Edinburgh, he was involved in attempts to reform and modernise the Church of Scotland. As a result, his fitness to be a minister was questioned and presumably this controversy influenced his decision to leave the clerical profession. He died in London on 6 June 1899.