He retired from the ministry of his church on 7 May 1800 and died at Edinburgh on 7 May 1824, aged 63, having married, on 4 April 1798, Marion, daughter of the Rev.
Robert Gillan, the third of that name, studied at the high school and university of Edinburgh, where he was early noted for his extensive scholarship and impressive oratory.
On 7 July 1829 he was licensed to preach the gospel by the presbytery of Selkirk, and ordained minister to the congregation at Stamfordham, Northumberland, in October 1830.
After being at Wishaw in the same county for six months, he accepted the parish of Abbotshall, Fife, on the secession of the non-intrusion ministers in May 1843, and from that place was brought to St. John's, Glasgow, on 25 February 1847.
He was devotedly attached to the established church of Scotland, and as moderator presided over the general assembly of 1873.