A university graduate, Albin is known for his ecclesiastical career in the diocese of Brechin, centred on Angus in east-central Scotland.

It has been suggested that he may have been a son of Henry de Brechin (died 1244 or 1245), the bastard son of David of Huntingdon ("Earl David") and the younger brother of King William the Lion; Henry bore the title Lord of Brechin, and was given lands there by his father.

The strongest evidence of Albin's relationship with Henry is that his episcopal seal bore the arms of Earl David.

[13] Watt even argued that Albin's postulation was probably due to the influence of Alan Durward, who at the time was a close advisor of King Alexander II.

[3] Bishop Albin, with the Archdeacon of Brechin, was named as a papal mandatory again on 4 January 1254 and authorised to put Nicholas de Hedon in possession of the deanery of Elgin Cathedral.

[3] Along with Clement of Dunblane, Albin was named by the pope as a conservator of the privileges given to Abel de Gullane, newly provided Bishop of St Andrews, on 23 March.

[14] On 22 June, Bishop Albin assisted the justiciar Alexander Comyn in conducting a perambulation in eastern Angus.

An alleged papal bull, dated 13 December 1255, had named Bishop Albin as a papal mandatory, along with Robert de Stuteville, with instructions to investigate Alan Durward's claim to the earldom of Mar; however, the bull was denounced as a forgery on 28 March 1257, after Durward's rivals had seized power.

[17] The stay of Cardinal Ottobono Fieschi (later Pope Adrian V) in England from 29 October 1265, until July 1268, led to a great deal of diplomatic activity in the Scottish church, in which Albin was perhaps involved.

During Albin's episcopate, the incorporation of the Céli Dé ("vassal of God") into the cathedral chapter was probably brought near to completion.

A bull of Pope Innocent IV of 18 February 1250 stated that:The brethren who have been wont to be in the church of Brechin were called Keledei and now by change of name are styled canons[22] These Céli Dé had been proclaimed as part of the secular cathedral by an act of Bishop Gregory, Albin's predecessor.

[23] During his episcopate, Albin is said to have attracted Egbert, an English Arabic scholar and Carmelite friar, to teach in Brechin.