Robert ROSS

ROSS, ROBERT (b. Leith, Scotland, 15 Aug 1792; d. Sydney, NSW, 2 Nov 1862). Presbyterian and Congregational missionary, doctor and linguist.

Robert was the son of Robert Ross, candlemaker. After study at Heriot's Hospital, Edinburgh, he was employed by a legal firm 1806-14 and joined the Church of Scotland in 1811 as he 'had earnestly sought salvation through Christ and indeed found it'. In 1813 Ross began to study for the ministry and through a meeting of the Edinburgh (later Scottish) Missionary Society convened by Dr Patterson of St Petersburg, offered himself for a mission field and under the Society's patronage. He then studied medicine and theology at Edinburgh University, being ordained and graduating MD 1818, he m. Marina Halden.

At the end of May, they and other missionaries embarked for Russia and set out from St Petersburg on a hazardous journey for Orenburg in Russian Tartary. Ross's first task was to learn the language in order to communicate with the people to whom they were sent, to translate the scriptures and establish a stable Christian environment. When speaking to the Muslim and the heathen people he made it known that believing in Jesus was the answer to forgiveness of sins. Robert and Marina Ross showed great courage and steadfast faith in the loss of their first three children. In 1821 the Orenburg mission was closed and the missionaries moved to Astrakhan (1821-25) where some OT books were translated and the NT was revised and translated in Turkish and Tartar, printed at the Astrakhan press which was set up by them, and distributed. It was in Astrakhan their three sons were born. In Sept 1824 a serious outbreak of cholera occurred and in his medical capacity Robert Ross rendered such valuable service that he was commended by the Czar and awarded a Russian medical degree. Due to political changes in 1825 the missionaries were no longer wanted and they returned to Edinburgh.

In 1827 Robert Ross was invited to become minister of the Kidderminster Congregational Church, Worcestershire. His wife Marina died Nov 1829 and in 1832 he m. Sarah Grafton. His pastorate there was marked with great piety and zeal, the congregation increased with much activity among them, and also within the missionary cause and other church agencies. He helped form the Congregational Colonial Missionary Society, targeted especially on SA, in 1836. He was a director of the LMS 183738.

In 1839 Ross accepted a call to be agent and representative for the Colonial MS and LMS in Sydney NSW. Before leaving London, he remarked that 'he would go to the world's ends to be instrumental in saving immortal souls'. He arrived in February 1840 with his wife and six children and in April was asked to be minister of the Independent Chapel, Pitt Street. Although the congregation had dispersed through dissension, he soon gathered an enthusiastic following and a new church was built and dedicated 1 Jan 1846. He won repute for a notable ministry, developing effective missionary agencies and participating in many community organisations. He was an active pamphleteer: there are nine titles in Ferguson's list, including On the Lord's Supper (1855). Ross resigned from active parish duties in 1854 after a stroke.

Ross demonstrated his strong commitment to the evangelical movement through his lifestyle and in preaching by saying that 'the object of worship being a spirit, we will worship God in spirit and in truth' and his belief that 'the scriptures were the inspired word of God for all mankind, and that the glory of God may be promoted in the conversion and salvation of men'.

ADB 2; Pitt St Congregational Church Minutes IS4052; Ross papers held by Mr D Giblin, Wahroonga, NSW; Ms material relating to missionary activities in the Scottish Missionary Register 1819-25 held by the Church of Scotland, Edinburgh

MARGARET ROSS PATRICIA CHASSAGNE