William Skinner (bishop)

Having William attend Oxford was important to him as a way of showing "his own personal conviction of the full communion which existed between the English and Scottish Churches.

"[3] George Gleig, primus of the church, sent a severe but fruitless reproof to the dean and clergy of Aberdeen for electing the son of their late bishop.

In 1832 he confirmed as many as four hundred and sixty-two persons, and a first effort was made in the same year to circulate religious works in the Gaelic language.

Upon the death of Bishop James Walker, Skinner was unanimously elected primus by an episcopal synod held in St. Andrew's Church, Aberdeen, on 2 June 1841.

[4] In the previous year a serious controversy had sprung out of the refusal of Sir William Dunbar, priest of St. Paul's Chapel, Aberdeen, to receive or to administer the sacrament in accordance with the Scottish ritual.

The bishop was – according to the Dictionary of National Biography – assiduous and exemplary in the discharge of his duties, and did much during his primacy to consolidate the episcopal party in Scotland.