William Hanna (minister)

William Hanna (26 November 1808 – 24 May 1882) was a Scottish minister, known as a theological writer and as the biographer of his father-in-law, Thomas Chalmers.

[1] Born in Belfast on 26 November 1808, he was the son of Rev Prof Samuel Hanna, a minister of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland.

During the ten-year controversy that preceded the Disruption of 1843, he took an active part on the side of Chalmers and his allies.

[2] He is buried in the Grange Cemetery in south Edinburgh in the plot of his father-in-law, Thomas Chalmers (against the north wall).

On the death of Thomas Chalmers in 1847, Hanna was asked to write his biography, and arranged a temporary exchange so he could reside for a time in Edinburgh.