John D. KIRKLAND

KIRKLAND, JOHN D (b. Glasgow, Scotland, 1842; d. Burwood, NSW, 5 May 1927). Businessman and churchman.

Young Kirkland went into a commercial career with the Gorbals Tube Works, attending night classes at Glasgow Athenaeum. He was sent to Melbourne by the firm in 1870, returning to Scotland after some years. In the 1880s, he returned to Sydney, started his own business, later giving it up and becoming a director of Hoskins Steel.

Kirkland contributed to a multitude of Presbyterian Church-related activities over a very long period with great dedication. He was an elder of Balmain and later Burwood churches for over 40 years, a member of the General Assembly and a trustee. He was convenor of the Sustentation Fund Committee from 1888 to 1927, helping to provide clergy with a 'living wage'. He served the councils of The Scots College (1906-27, chairman 1906-7, 1922-27) and PLC (1914-24), was a director of Burnside Homes (1910-24) and president of the (youth) Fellowship Union, 1893-96. He and his wife, who edited the PWA's organ, Ministering Women from 1896-1914, had a daughter. His obituary called him 'a man of Christ, kindly in spirit ... and strong in faith, ever commending in his walk and conversation the Gospel of His Master'.

NSW Presbyterian, 19 May 1927; Minutes and Proceedings of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of NSW, 1927

MALCOLM D PRENTIS