Rev. William Guthrie, c1620-1665
1st Minister of Fenwick Parish Church at New Kilmarnock
Scottish Covenanter
Author of ‘The Christian’s Great Interest’
Laird of Pitforthie (disponed)

William Guthrie, the eldest son of James Guthrie of Pitforthie, and Janet Lyon of Easter Ogil, studied divinity at St Andrews University. He was selected as the first minister of Fenwick Parish Church in Ayrshire, also called New Kilmarnock. He was known for possessing a profound ability to draw people to the church and “winning the hearts of his parishioners by his faithful work and unselfish methods.” It was a time of great religious strife and divisions within the church. William Guthrie and many of his kin sided with the Covenanters. For this he was eventually deprived of his ministry. He wrote ‘The Christian’s Great Interest,’ first published after his death in 1668, a how-to for the unbeliever on developing an interest in Christ. He died in 1665 at the age of 45, leaving a widow and two daughters, his sons all having preceded him in death during their infancy or early childhood.

BIRTH: 1620

Unlike the majority of his siblings, no Birth/Baptismal record has been found for William Guthrie in the Old Parish Records. He is described by his biographers as the eldest son of the Pitforthie family with a birth year of 1620.

ANCESTORS / PARENTS / STEPSIBLINGS / SIBLINGS:

James Guthrie (1596-1650) was a son of William Guthrie, the Laird of Kingennie and Elizabeth Fethie. Kingennie was then a small village in Angus near Monifieth and Dundee in existence since the 1300s. It had been occupied by the Guthrie family since the time of Malcolm Guthrie, Provost of Dundee, who died 1482. A fortified structure known as ‘Castle Guthrough‘ was once found there, but has long since been reclaimed by the landscape. The Kingennie lands and title were sold by James’ father in 1600.

Janet Lyon (b. abt. 1600) was a daughter of James Lyon, 6th Laird of Easter Ogil, and his spouse who was a daughter of the Guthries of that Ilk. This is the method by which Rev. William Guthrie is a cousin to Rev. James Guthrie, Minister of Sterling through his maternal grandmother’s relatives rather than his father’s side of the family. Janet was married first to John Wemyss, the Laird of Pitforthie, with whom she had two daughters: Catherine and Margaret. After their father’s death, these daughters came into possession of Pitforthie, which Janet’s new husband, James Guthrie, purchased from them, and from that time was styled as James Guthrie of Pitforthie.

James Guthrie and Janet Lyon were parents to 11 children: 6 sons and 5 daughters. These were William Guthrie (1620), Andrew Guthrie (1622), Jonat/Janet Guthrie (Bef.1624), Barbara Guthrie (1624), Nicholas Guthrie (1626), David Guthrie (1627), Robert Guthrie (1629), Margaret Guthrie (1630), Alexander Guthrie (1632), John Guthrie (1633), and Jean Guthrie (1636). OPR baptismal records exist for all but the eldest son, William and the eldest daughter, Jonat/Janet.

EARLY LIFE & EDUCATION:

Pitforthie is located just northeast of Brechin in Angus (then Forfarshire), Scotland. It was likely there that William Guthrie spent his early years. The family attended church at Brechin cathedral where his siblings were baptized. William reportedly possessed a good sense of humor, and loved fishing. During boyhood, his classical education included Latin and Greek. Afterward, he attended classes at the University of St Andrews where his studies included philosophy. He had the added advantage of a relative taking him under his wing. Mr James Guthrie, the future Minister of Sterling, was then a college regent. Guthrie was William’s cousin. The exact path to that relationship remains unknown, but it is likely through his maternal grandmother, who was a Guthrie of that Ilk, rather than his father’s Kingennie heritage. William graduated with a degree of Master of Arts in June 1638, but also benefited from further tutelage in the subject of Theology by Mr Samuel Rutherford, a professor of divinity. In August of 1642, at the age of 22, William Guthrie was licensed to preach the gospel.

That year he accepted a position as tutor to James Campbell, eldest son of the Earl of Loudon.

RELIGIOUS MATTERS:

Fenwick was originally a part of Kilmarnock parish. The separation was made by Act of Parliament in 1641, which enacted that it should be called the New Kirk of Kilmarnock. The church itself was built in 1643. Soon afterward, on the occasion William Guthrie preached in Galstoun a day before the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, several members of the new parish of Fenwick were present, and resolved to choose him as their minister. On 7 November 1644, Mr William Guthrie, was ordained as Minister of Fenwick (New Kilmarnock).

Three of his five brothers followed him into the ministry: Robert, Alexander, and John. Robert was licensed to preach, but was never ordained to a parish. His heath was too poor for such a precious charge. He died in early adulthood. Mr Alexander Guthrie was ordained as Minister of Stracthro in 1655, but died in March 1662. Mr John Guthrie, the youngest son of the family, became Minister at Tarbolton and Barnwell in 1658.

The challenges of a young minister in charge of a newly formed parish were many. Despite disadvantages facing him, William Guthrie gained the respect and admiration of his parishioners through the work of his ministry. People came from surrounding towns to listen to his sermons.

In addition to his parish duties, Mr William Guthrie also regularly attended the judicatures of the Church, possessing a thorough knowledge of its constitution. When the crown sought to bring Episcopy back to Scotland and the right of religion came to the forefront of people, many had to choose between sides. Resolutioners or Protestors. The Resolutioner-Protestor Controversy was the first division of the Church of Scotland since the Reformation in 1560. Rival general assemblies and separate presbyteries were set up. This split in the Church of Christ in Scotland “brought out interesting theological controversies concerning: civil resistance, passive and active obedience, the unity of the Church, lawful and (unlawful) alliances and the right (or not-right) of continued protesting, amongst other disputed points.

Having “impeccable Covenanting credentials” William Guthrie was numbered among the Protestors. His cousin, “the committed radical” James Guthrie was unwavering in his views, along with fellow ministers like Samuel Rutherford, Patrick Gillespie, George Gillespie, Hugh Binning, Frederick Carmichael, Alexander Moncreiff, John Livingstone, James Simson, Archibald Johnston, and Andrew Cant.

During his time at Fenwick, he traveled widely to preach sermons and sometimes ended up where there was military action involving the Covenanters. He was at Dunbar when they Scottish army was defeated by Cromwell. Unlike his youngest brother, Mr John Guthrie, who was later condemned to die for sedition due to his role in the Pentland Rising (later pardoned), William seemed to remain under the radar protected by aristocrats sympathetic to the cause, or to him.

On 24 July 1664, by resolution of Archbishop Burnett, Mr William Guthrie was suspended, discharged from the exercise of his ministry and his church declared vacant, and he, by an armed force of soldiers, removed from it. William remained in Fenwick for a time until family matters drew him back to Pitforthie.

MARRIAGE, WIFE, & CHILDREN

Within a year of settling into his parish at Fenwick, William Guthrie married Agnes Campbell. She was a daughter of David Campbell, Esq. of Skeldon, in Ayrshire, a remote branch of the Loudon family. By all accounts it was a happy union. “To a handsome form and fine features, she added the more substantial beauties of good sense, an excellent education, great sweetness of temper, and a humility of mind, which was too deep to arise from anything less than the proper view she took of herself in the gospel.

William and Agnes were parents to six children: Margaret (1648-1649), Agnes (1651-1697), William (1653-1655), Mary (1655-????), Elizabeth (1656-1658), and John (1658-1662). Both sons and two daughters died in early childhood. Their second daughter, Agnes Guthrie, married Matthew Miller of Glenlee in Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland. Mary Guthrie married Rev. Patrick Warner, who became Minister at Irvine. Both daughters have descendant lineages surviving today.

Agnes Campbell survived her husband by at least a year. She posted an advertisement

Being much afflicted with the sight of some Printed Papers, or Sermons, to which the name of my Worthy Husband (now with the Lord) is prefixed, by these that have published them, because I found many things therein injurious, not onlie to his memorie, but to the Truth: I was therefore at the pains to cause compare them with his Notes I have beside me; And likewise to Interrogate some of his most Judicious and Conscientious ordinarie Hearers, yet living, anent the same: And after due and serious consideration of the whole, I dare verie confidently declare, that they are not the genuine Works and Sermons of my foresaid Husband; which may be very evident to all that knew him, considering the perplexed stile, the confusion, and want of connexion, and a multitude of vain repetitions that are oft-times to be found therein; as also want of that clear method familiar to him, together with the un soundness sometimes of the mat∣ter, which was known to be farr from him, being well instructed in the form of sound words, which in all his discourses to the people he held fast. Moreover there be many things therein clear non-sense, and not intelligible by the Reader a fault very farr from his way in Preaching. And this is to be the less wondred, at seeing, that when he was yet alive, some made bold to Print some Sermons of his without his knowledge, which he would not own, and therefore was necessitate to emit these few Sermons himself, Intituled, The tryall of a Saving Interest in Christ, to the advantage of the truth, which had been otherwise wronged.

IT IS hoped therefore that every conscientious person will be so farr tender of the Truth, and of the Fame of such a faithful Minister of the Gospel, who is not now to speak for himself, that they will not look upon these Printed Sermons as his Workes, seing they have been put forth to the publict viewe, without the knowledge or consent of any of his Relations or Brethren of the Ministry, who were particularly acquaint with him, and his way of Doctrine, and to whom, if he had minded any thing for the Press, he would have left the charge or the oversight thereof. The World hath al∣ready had a taste of his gift, and of the Spirit that appeared in him in the foresaid use∣ful litle Book published by himself, and blessed of God to the Edification of many, which I hope will easily move the observing and Judicious Reader to have these lately Printed under his name in suspition. I shall add no more, but for the future intreat that nothing bearing his name may be looked upon as his, that is not attested by his nearest Relations, and his Brethren of the Ministrie.

I am Thy well-wisher A. C.

INHERITANCE and DEPRIVATION:

James Guthrie of Pitforthie died on 10 November 1650 with a testament recorded at the Commissariot of Brechin. As the eldest son, William Guthrie was the legal inheritor by the laws of primogeniture, but he was in Ayrshire focused on his ministerial duties. He left the charge of Pitforthie to his brother. On 27 July 1655, “The Protector grants to David Guthrie, lawful son to the deceased James Guthrie of Pitforthie, his heirs and assignees (subject to the legal reversion),–the lands of Pitforthie, manor-places, &c., thereof in the barony of Kethick and sheriffdom of Forfar, with the teind sheaves and other tends of the said lands; –which lands pertained to the said James Guthrie, and were on the 9th August 1653 apprised from Mr William Guthrie, minister at the new kirk of Kilmarnock, for himself and as charged to enter heir to the deceased James, his father, at the instance of Robert Arbuthnott, fiar of Fuddowsie (Findowrie?), in payment to him of 36,565 merks, with sheriff-fee corresponding thereto (at 12d. for ilk pound, conform to the Act of Parliament) to John Black, messenger, which decree the said Robert Arbuthnot assigned to the said David Guthrie :– with precept of saline.”

With Pitforthie in the hands of his brother, Rev. William Guthrie was able to care for his parish, create sermons, and continue to be involved in the business of the Church of Scotland.

The division within the church and the troubles that followed were no doubt stressful to William Guthrie whose cousin, Rev James Guthrie, Minister of Sterling, was martyred to the Covenanter cause in 1661. William was already an unwell man having struggled over the years with a number of bodily illnesses. He stayed the course at Fenwick throughout. He buried his three year old son John 13 June 1662. His brother Alexander, Minister at Stacathrow, died 10 Feb 1663. Later that year, his youngest brother, John Guthrie, Minister at Tarbolton and Barnwell, was charged with sedition. The next tragedy was his own. Archbishop Burnet made a resolution to suspend and discharge Mr William Guthrie from the exercise of his ministry, declaring his church vacant, and ordering him removed from it by an armed force, 24 July 1664.

WRITING:

Many sermons were printed and circulated in William Guthrie’s name which he did not write, or were poor notes taken from one of his sermons. A few of his actual sermons were published posthumously including, ‘A Christian’s Great Interest,’ which has since been published around the world in many languages.

DEATH & BURIAL:

Rev William Guthrie died at the home of his brother-in-law in Brechin on 10 October 1665. Suffering from a number of maladies, he was ill for about ten days before his death. His remains were interred in Brechin Cathedral.

Binning quotes Wodrow, “It was well ordered that Mr. Guthrie died in Angus, ‘for his congregation would have idolized his grave had he died among them.'”

A memorial to Guthrie was erected in Fenwick churchyard in 1854. The Scottish Covenanter Memorials Association added a plaque in Brechin Cathedral in 2005.

READING RECOMMENDATION / SOURCES:

BOOK: Howie, John (1881). Biographia Scoticana (Scots Worthies). Digital Repository: The Project Gutenberg, ebook release 2009.
Ahistorical account written in the late 18th century. The work provides a detailed compilation of the lives, characters, and notable actions of eminent Scottish figures known as the “Scots Worthies,” covering a period of nearly two hundred years
Includes: ‘The Life of Mr. William Guthrie‘ and ‘The Life of Mr James Guthrie‘

BOOK: An Historical Account of the Lives and Characters of Mr William Guthrie with Lord Warriston’s Speech before the Assembly at Westminster. Also an account of the Battle of Bothwell-Bridge., Printed by H&S Crawford, for Joseph Grahm & Co., Kilmarnock, 1809. Digital Repository: Google Books.

BOOK: Smellie, Alexander (1903). Men of the Covenant: The Story of the Scottish Church in the Years of the Persecution. Fleming H Revell Company, London and Edinburgh. Digital Repository: Internet Archive.

BOOK: Guthrie, Rev. William. (1668) The Christian’s Great Interest. Digital publication with chapter indexes. Also contains a Memoir of the Author.
Guthrie, William, of Fenwick – Index: Upbringing, 118, 119. Ordained at Fenwick, 120. His merry temperament, 121. How he fished for men, 122, 207. The fruitfulness of his ministry, 123. The Christian’s Great Interest, 124. His deposition, 125. And Death, 127. His zeal for Christ’s kingly rights, 197.S
See also entries for Rev James Guthrie.
Chapter X: Sabath Morning in Fenwick, p.118

BOOK: Stevenson, Thomas G. (1834). Analecta Scotica: Collections Illustrative of the Civil, Ecclesiastical, and Literary History of Scotland. Digital Repository: Google Books.
Includes: Advertisement by (Agnes Campbell) the Widow of Rev. William Guthrie, pp.242-243

WEBSITE: The Digital Puritan – Biographical Sketch on William Guthrie
Includes links to PDF documents of his sermons.

WEBSITE: True Covenanter – Biographical Sketch on William Guthrie

WEBSITE: Fire and Ice: Puritan and Reformed Writings – Biographical Sketch on William Guthrie

WIKISOURCE: Dictionary of National Biography – William Guthrie (1620-1665)

BOOK: Tyndal, Rev John (1865) Religious and Moral Anecdotes: comprised generally within three hundred years; or from the Days of John Knox, the eminent Scottish reformer, till the present time. Edinburgh. Digital Repository: Google Books.
Includes: pp.8-9 William Guthrie of Fenwick

BOOK: Crookshank, William (1789) The History of the State and Sufferings of the Church of Scotland from the Restoration to the Revolution, Volume 1. Digital Repository: Google Books.
Includes entries for William Guthrie: p.97, p.99, p.196.

PUBLICATION: Genealogy Magazine, Vol. VI, January 1916, No. 1 – The Woodrow Family
Includes mention of Margaret Guthrie, granddaughter of William Guthrie and Agnes Campbell, a daughter of Patrick Warner, who married Robert Woodrow, and was the maternal ancestor of the American Woodrows.

BOOK: Binning, Hugh. The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning. Digital Repository: Google Books.
Includes mention of Rev William Guthrie.

BOOK: Rutherford, Samuel. Letters of Samuel Rutherford. Digital Repository: Google Books
pp.652-653 – Letter to Mr William Guthrie when the army was at Sterling after the defeat at Dunbar.

BOOK: The Edinburgh Christian Instructor – Volume 23 – Jan – Dec. 1823., Edinburgh. Digital Repository: Google Books.
Page 588 – Biographical Notices – Mr. William Guthrie, Minister of Fenwick, by Kilmarnock

BOOKS: The Dictionary of National Biography Founded in 1882 by George Smith from the earliest mimes to 1900. Digital Repository: Google Books.
Includes: William Guthrie (1620-1665)

BOOK: M’Kay, Archibald (1864). A History of Kilmarnock, from an Early Period to the Present Time; Including Biographical Notices of the More Eminent Individuals Belonging to the Locality. Digital Repository: Google Books.
Includes mention of Rev William Guthrie and Fenwick, the New Kirk of Kilmarnock, p.131

BOOK: Lawson, John Parker. The Episcopal Church of Scotland from the Reformation to the Revolution.
“The eccentric Mr William Guthrie, who resorted to Newbattle to hear Leighton preach, eld a different notion of fools. He was a preacher at Fenwick in Ayrshire before the Restoration, and was commonly called the Fool of Fenwick–a sobriquet which he bestowed on himself in the title-pages of his printed sermons.”
Rev William Guthrie – see p.696 and p.721

BOOK: Scotland, Privy Council. The Register of the Privy Council of Scotland: 1669-1672. Digital Repository: Google Books.
p.306 – Year: 1671 – Monopoly of printing the sermons of Mr Andrew Grey and Mr William Guthrie’s ‘Christian’s Interest’ granted to George Swinton and James Glen, printers in Edinburgh.

WEBSITE: Reformed Books Online – ‘The Scottish Resolutioner-Protester Controversy, 1650s‘

DOCTORAL THESIS: McIntyre, Neil (2016) Saints & Subverters: the Later Covenanters in Scotland c.1648-1682  PhD diss.  (Univ. of Strathclyde, 2016)

BOOK: Stevenson, J.H. (1904) Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum: The Register of the Great Seal of Scotland under the commonwealth, A.D. 1652-1659, Volume 8. (Digital Repository: Google Books)
450. (1655) Edinburgh, July 27.
THE PROTECTOR grants to DAVID GUTHRIE, lawful son to the deceased James Guthrie of Pitforthie, his heirs and assignees (subject to the legal reversion),–the lands of Pitforthie, manor-places, &c., thereof in the barony of Kethick and sheriffdom of Forfar, with the teind sheaves and other tends of the said lands; –which lands pertained to the said James Guthrie, and were on the 9th August 1653 apprised from Mr William Guthrie, minister at the new kirk of Kilmarnock, for himself and as charged to enter heir to the deceased James, his father, at the instance of Robert Arbuthnott, fiar of Fuddowsie (Findowrie?), in payment to him of 36,565 merks, with sheriff-fee corresponding thereto (at 12d. for ilk pound, conform to the Act of Parliament) to John Black, messenger, which decree the said Robert Arbuthnot assigned to the said David Guthrie :– with precept of saline. P.R. viii. 17.

WEBSITE: Scotland’s Churches Trust – Fenwick Parish Church
Denomination: Church of Scotland
Church Overview: Built 1643 in the shape of a Greek cross, with four arms of equal length. This ‘central planning’ is an important feature of presbyterian worship in Scotland. Traditional features to look out for are the outside stairs, crowstepped gables and the jougs. The various galleries, or lofts, were for the various families of the parish and have different outside stairs. Crowstepped gables are characteristic of Scottish vernacular architecture. The jougs are an iron collar to tether offenders and may be found on the south wall. The walled graveyard contains several notable graves and monuments. At the entrance to the churchyard are little ‘sentry boxes’, built in 1828, to house the elders of the church collecting offerings from worshippers. Several Covenanting artefacts, including the battle-flag of the Fenwick Covenanters.

WEBSITE: Archives and Collections – The Glasgow School of Art – Guthries Church, Fenwick – Pulpit
Creator: James Black Fulton.
Contents: Plan and elevations of decorative pulpit.