Reverend Mr. John Gibson, Minister of the Gospel at Holm

REVEREND MR. JOHN GIBSON

Minister of the Gospel at Holm

The Question of Paternity: Conflicting Claims

According to the Fasti of the Church of Scotland, the Reverend Mr. John Gibson, here treated, was the son of John Gibson, Edinburgh, and the brother of Andrew Gibson, Minister of the Gospel at Shapinsay. Fasti VII: 218 This is wrong. It was Adam Gibson, not Andrew Gibson, who was Minister of the Gospel at Shapinsay. Moreover, Adam Gibson, according to his entry in the Fasti, is the son of Andrew Gibson, Burgess of Edinburgh, and not John Gibson, Edinburgh. Ibidem: 270 Adam's entry in the Fasti also gives him a brother named Archibald, who was a writer to the Signet, and Archibald's entry in the history of the Society of Writers to Signet identifies him as the fourth son of Andrew Gibson, Burgess of Edinburgh, and the brother of Alexander Gibson, Dean of Bower. History of the Society of Writers to Her Majesty's Writer to the Signet: 76 Confusingly, Alexander Gibson's entry in the Fasti also identifies him as the son of John Gibson, Edinburgh, and the brother of Adam Gibson, Minister of the Gospel and St. Andrews and Deerness (afterwards at Shapinsay), who, as was previously noticed, is identified as the son of Andrew Gibson, Burgess of Edinburgh. Fasti VII: 270

GIBSONE
JOHNNE
ANDREW GIBSONE/BESSIE THOMSONE FR704 (FR704) M
03/04/1625 685/1 30 110 Edinburgh

His Testament Dative and Inventory

Confirmation was granted on 10 September 1681. [National Records of Scotland, Orkney and Shetland Commissary Court, The Testament Dative and Inventory of John Gibsone minister at Holm, Orkney, reference CC17/2/11]

Evidence from the National Records of Scotland

June 1674: Bond by David Graham, bailie of regality of Methven, factor appointed by Patrick Smyth of Braco, tutor in law to Robert Smyth, son of deceased Andrew Smyth of Rothesholme, for managing his affairs in Orkney, and David Smyth, merchant, burgess of Pearth, to procure from said Patrick a discharge in favour of Mr. John Gibsone, minster at Holme, of papers and 2 keys belonging to said Andrew, judicially produced by said Mr. John. National Records of Scotland, Papers of the Scarth Family of Breckness, Orkney, reference GD217/479

Biographical Summary

John Gibson, born 1623, son of John G., Edinburgh, and brother of Andrew G., min. of Shapinsay; educated at Univ. of Edinburgh; M.A. (July 1643); sent by the Commission of Assembly to preach in Orkney in 1650; adm. before 4th July 1654, on which date the new Presb. of Orkney was established; died 8th Aug. 1681. He marr. 15th Oct 1656, Barbara, daugh. of Patrick Smyth of Braco. She survived him. Fasti VII: 218

Genealogy

1. Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae. The Succession of Ministers in the Church of Scotland from the Reformation, Vol. VII, page 218
2. Ibidem, page 270