Thomas Gillespie

Thomas Gillespie (born 1708, Clearburn, near Edinburgh, Scot.—died Jan. 19, 1774, Dunfermline, Fife) was a Scottish Presbyterian minister who assisted in founding the Relief Church (Oct. 22, 1761), a Presbyterian group advocating the right of a congregation to approve its minister. Gillespie was ordained in 1741 and inducted to the parish of Carnock, Fife. In 1752 he was a victim of the controversy, following the Patronage Act of 1712, over the right of congregations to...