| Birth Date: | 16 August 1754 |
| Birth Place: | East Gordon, Gordon, Scotland |
| Death Place: | Marylebone, London, England |
| Resting Place: | Bunhill Fields |
| Education: | |
| Children: | 10 |
| Relatives: | Arthur Waugh (great-grandson) |
Alexander Waugh (16 August 1754 – 14 December 1827) was a minister in the Secession Church of Scotland, co-founder of the London Missionary Society,[1] [2] and one of the leading Nonconformist preachers of his day. He was the great-great-grandfather of the writers Alec Waugh and Evelyn Waugh.
Alexander Waugh was born in East Gordon, Berwickshire, Scotland, on 16 August 1754, to Thomas Waugh (1706–1783), a farmer at East Gordon and third generation Covenanter, and Margaret Johnstone (1714–1789), daughter of Alexander Johnstone (b.1688), who also farmed in East Gordon, and Elizabeth Waugh (1685–1735). The Waugh family had farmed at East Gordon since at least the late 1500's, and probably earlier.[3]
In 1766, Waugh attended the grammar school at Earlston where he excelled at Latin. Between 1770 - 1773, he attended Edinburgh University where he studied Latin, Greek, Logic, Moral Philosophy, Natural Philosophy, and Hebrew. Between August 1774 and 1776, he studied Divinity under the tuition of the Rev. John Brown (1722–1787) of Haddington. In 1777, he attended the University of Aberdeen (Marischal College) and was awarded a M.A. In 1815, he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the University of Aberdeen (Marischal College).
Waugh was first licensed to preach on 28 June 1779. Later that year, he was sent to London to spend ten weeks temporarily looking after the vacant congregation in the Secession Church, Wells Street, London where he proved popular. He then returned to Scotland where he took over the congregation at Newton, Roxburghshire, and was formally ordained in August 1780. On 30 May 1782, Waugh was appointed by the synod of Edinburgh to return to the congregation at Wells Street, London. He arrived in London on 14 June 1782 and remained there for the rest of his life.
During his time in London, Waugh co-founded the London Missionary Society on 22 September 1795 and was Chairman of its Examining Committee for 28 years. Waugh went on several missions on behalf of the London Missionary Society. He was in Paris during September and October 1802, Ireland in July and August 1812, and Scotland in August and September 1815 and again in 1819. Waugh was also an advocate and supporter of the Anti-Slavery Society where his friend, Thomas Pringle (1789–1834), was Secretary.
On 10 August 1786, Waugh married Mary Neill (1760–1840) in her family home at Edincrow, Coldingham, Berwickshire, Scotland, sister of John Neill (1754–1831) of 21 Surrey St., London who established a successful commodity trading business in London.[4] They had six sons and four daughters. One of their sons was George Waugh (1801–1873), druggist to Queen Victoria and father of Fanny Waugh (1833–1866) and Edith Waugh (1846–1931) successive wives of the Pre-Raphaelite painter William Holman Hunt, and also father of Alice Waugh (1845–1912) wife of the Pre-Raphaelite sculptor Thomas Woolner.[5] Another son, the Rev. James Hay Waugh (1797–1885), was the grandfather of Arthur Waugh, and great-grandfather of the writers Alec Waugh and Evelyn Waugh.[6]
Waugh died at 6.40 a.m. on 14 December 1827 at his London house, No. 2 Salisbury Place, Marylebone, London, surrounded by his children. His funeral took place on 22 December 1827. At the beginning of the funeral procession, prayers were said by his friends, the Rev. Rowland Hill and the Rev. Edward Irving. The funeral procession began in Paddington, extending almost half a mile, consisting of forty two mourning coaches and thirteen private carriages, and ended at Bunhill Fields where Waugh was buried.
The engraver Thomas Wright made a print in 1820 after a painting of Waugh by Thomas Charles Wageman[7]
James Tassie made two relief portraits of Waugh in 1791 and 1794, wax and white glass. His nephew, William Tassie, made another portrait of Waugh at a later date.[8]
The Scottish writer, poet, and abolitionist Thomas Pringle wrote the following poem in memory of Waugh in 1827: