Alexander Ewing (bishop)

For other people named Alexander Ewing, see Alexander Ewing.

Alexander Ewing (25 March 1814 – 22 May 1873) was a Scottish bishop.^[1]

The Right Reverend Alexander Ewing DD, LL.D., D.C.L.
Bishop of Argyll and The Isles
Church	Scottish Episcopal Church
Diocese	Argyll and The Isles
In office	1847–1873
Predecessor	Inaugural appointment
Successor	George Mackarness
Other post(s)	Incumbent of Lochgilphead (1847–1873) and Provost of Cumbrae (1853–1867)
Orders
Ordination	1838 (Deacon), 1841 (Priest)
Consecration	28 October 1847 (Bishop)
Personal details
Born	25 March 1814 Aberdeen, Scotland
Died	22 May 1873 (aged 59) Westmill, near Buntingford, Hertfordshire, England
Nationality	Scottish
Denomination	Anglican
Parents	John Ewing and Elspet Ewing (née Aitkin)
Spouse	(1) Katherine Stewart (2) Alice Douglas
Children	Margaret, John, Alexander, Samuel, and Ludovic

He was born of an old Highland family in Aberdeen, Scotland. In October 1838, he was admitted to deacon's orders, and after his return from Italy he took charge of the episcopal congregation at Forres, and was ordained a presbyter in the autumn of 1841. In 1847, he was consecrated bishop of the newly united Diocese of Argyll and The Isles, the duties of which position he discharged till his death. In 1851, he received the degree of D.C.L. from the University of Oxford.

Though hampered by poor health, he worked cheerfully, and his personal charm and Catholic sympathies gradually won him a prominent position. In theological discussion he was tolerant, and attached little importance to ecclesiastical authority and organization. His own theological position had close affinity with that of Thomas Erskine of Linlathen and Frederick Denison Maurice; but his opinions were independent. The trend of his teaching is only to be gathered from fragmentary publications—letters to the newspapers, pamphlets, special sermons, essays contributed to the series of Present Day Papers, of which he was the editor, and a volume of sermons entitled Revelation considered as Light.

Besides his strictly theological writings, Ewing was the author of the Cathedral or Abbey Church of Iona (1865), the first part of which contains drawings and descriptive letterpress of the ruins, and the second a history of the early Celtic church and the mission of St Columba.

Ewing's daughter Margaret Nina married Alexander Crum printer and MP in 1863.

Bibliography

• Feamainn Earraghaidhiell: Argyllshire Seaweed (1872)
• Revelation Considered as Light: A Series of Discourses (1873)
• Memoir of Alexander Ewing, D.C.L., by AJ Ross (1877)

References

1. Bertie, David M. (2000). Scottish Episcopal Clergy, 1689-2000. Edinburgh: T & T Clark. p. 251. ISBN 0-567-08746-8.

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ewing, Alexander". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 9 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 40.