Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Mackelvie, William
MACKELVIE, WILLIAM, D.D. (1800–1863), united presbyterian divine, born in Edinburgh, 7 March 1800,was soon left fatherless, and spent his youth at Leith, where he became a draper's apprentice. A visit of the Rev. Leigh Richmond to Leith led Mackelvie to leave the established church of Scotland, with which he had been hitherto connected, to join the associate secession congregation of Kirkgate, under the Rev. Mr. Aitcnison, and to study for the ministry of that church. After the usual course at Edinburgh University and the Theological Secession Hall, Mackelvie in 1827 was licensed to preach by the fresbytery of Stirling and Falkirk. In April 1829 he was called to Balgedie, Kinrossshire, where he was ordained by the Dunfermline presbytery. He was one of the earliest promoters of the union between the secession and relief churches, which was consummated in 1847, and at the request of the united synod he drew up a narrative of the union. He was appointed moderator of the synod of 1866, received the degree of D.D. from the college of Hamilton, Ohio, U.S.A.., and died in December 1868. In 1835 Mackelvie originated the Dick Club, before which he read an account of the poet Michael Bruce, whose birth and burial places were in the vicinity of Balgedie. This paper was extended and published in 1887 as 'The Life and Poems of Bruce,' It contains a biographv of the poet and an elaborate vindication of Brace's right to the authorship of certain of the 'paraphases' and 'odes' claimed by John Logan [q. v.] the divine. Mackelvie in 1850 edited the works of Dr. Hay of Kinross, with a memoir.
But the work for which Mackelvie is best known is the 'Annals and Statistics of the United Presbyterian Church. 'On this denominational encyclopaedia Mackelvie spent, from 1838 almost to his death, much time, money, and labour. It contains lists of students and sketches of congregations and of their ministers. When Mackelvie died the large mass of manuscripts was given to the synod by his widow and sons, and the synod appointed a large committee to arrange for the completion and publication of the volume. Dr. William Blair of Dunblane was appointed editor, and the work was published in 1873, under the synod's sanction. Mackelvie also wrote numerous articles for the 'United Secession Magazine,' the 'Voluntary Church Magazine,' and other periodicals.
[Sermons by the late William Mackelvie, D.D., with Memoir of the Author, by John Macfarlane, LL.D., 1865 ; Reminiscences of Mackelvie, in U.P. Magazine, 1864 ; Annals and Statistics of the United Presbyterian Church.]