Matthew Leishman

He was the second son of Janet Robertson Foxbar and her husband, Thomas Leishman (born 1762), corn merchant.

During his time as a divinity student, he was introduced by his friend John Paul to his uncle Henry Moncrieff, a man of great standing in the Church of Scotland.

[2] He also became a common attendee at the Tron Kirk on the Royal Mile, then under the ministry of Alexander Brunton.

[2] During this period of leisure, in 1818 he took a Leith smack to London to visit a cousin Captain Allan at Northampton Square.

During the visit he heard Henry Brougham speaking at the House of Commons, heard the Bishop of Llandaff preach at the Magdalene Chapel, saw Queen Charlotte pass to a roaring crowd, and saw Edmund Kean play Norval in the Scottish play “Douglas” at the Drury Lane Theatre.

In the spring of 1820, Thomas Leishman, Matthew’s father, paid 2,100 Scots pounds to acquire the patronage of Govan.

In June 1821 he was best man at the wedding of Charles Watson (an old friend) to Isabella Boog at Burntisland.

[5] His grandson, James Fleming Leishman of Linton, wrote his biography.