Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Cairncross, Alexander
CAIRNCROSS, ALEXANDER (d. 1701), archbishop of Glasgow, was descended from the ancient family of Cairncross of Cowmull. For some time he followed the trade of a dyer in the Canongate of Edinburgh, subsequently he became parson of Dumfries, where he remained till 1684, when by the recommendation of the Duke of Queensberry he was promoted to the see of Brechin, from which he was in a few months promoted to that of Glasgow. Having incurred the displeasure of the lord chancellor, the Earl of Perth, he was in January 1687 removed from the see, but after the revolution he obtained the notice of the new powers, and in 1693 was made bishop of Raphoe in Ireland, where he continued till his death in 1701. By his will he left 20l. to the poor of the parish of Raphoe, and the tenth part of his personal estate to the episcopal clergy of the kingdom of Scotland. He was buried in the cathedral of Raphoe.
[Registrum Episcopatus Brochinensis (Bannatyne club. 1856), p. 141 (App.) 79; Keith's Scotish Bishops (Russell), 158, 268-9; Ware's Works (Harris), 1, 277.]
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.48
N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
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