John Love (minister)

Born at Paisley, Renfrewshire on 4 June 1757, he was educated at Paisley grammar school, and then at Glasgow University, where he gained a bursary. He was licensed as a preacher of the church of Scotland by the presbytery of Paisley on 24 December 1778.[1]

After being assistant successively at Rutherglen and Greenock, Love was ordained minister of the presbyterian congregation at Crispin Street, Spitalfields, London, on 22 August 1788. He became a significant figure among founders of the London Missionary Society in September 1795, having written a short letter which convened an early consultative meeting. He was involved in selecting and training missionaries, and was secretary to the society, while he remained in London.[1][2]

In 1799 a chapel of ease was built in Clyde Street, Anderston, a suburb of Glasgow; Love was elected to the charge, and took up his duties in July 1800. He also became secretary to the Glasgow Missionary Society. He was a ponderous, solemn preacher, found impressive. In 1815 he was a candidate for the professorship of divinity in Aberdeen University, and in the following year the degree of D.D. was conferred upon him by the university and Marischal College.[1]

John Love died at the manse, Clyde Street, Glasgow, on 17 December 1825. A missionary station in Kaffraria, now in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, was established in 1840, and was named Lovedale after him.[1]

Love's major works were:[1]

• Nine Occasional Sermons, London, 1788.
• Fifteen Addresses to the People of Otaheite, and a Serious Call respecting a Mission to the River Indus, Glasgow, 1826.
• Discourses on Select Passages of Scripture, 2 vols. Glasgow, 1838.
• Letters of the late John Love, D.D., Glasgow, 1838 and 1840.
• Memorials, 2 vols., Glasgow, 1857–8.

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1893). "Love, John (1757-1825)". Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 34. London: Smith, Elder & Co.