He was a Free Church of Scotland minister who served as Moderator of the General Assembly 1885/86.

He was licensed to preach in 1826 then went to London for two years to work with Edward Irving.

Emerging from a period of doubt which accompanied his studies, he became a probationer in the Church of Scotland and assistant to the celebrated Edward Irving in London, 1830-32.

[4] He was co-author of the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary (1871) with Robert Jamieson, St. Paul's, Glasgow and the Rev.

He married Catherine (died 30 July 1879, aged 75), third daughter of William Dyce, M.D., Aberdeen, and Margaret Chalmers, on 25 February 1836 at Saint Nicholas's Church, Aberdeen, Scotland.