John Hendry was born in 1765 in Baldernock in Dumbartonshire, the second of three sons. He attended the University of Glasgow where he became a student of divinity. His final year of study was spent at the University of Edinburgh and was licenced to preach by the Presbytery of Dumbarton. Not long afterwards, in 1789, he was elected to the Chapel of Ease at Gourock where he stayed for several years. He was the fourth incumbent of the chapel and succeeded James Greenock (click on link to find out more).
The Chapel of Ease was built in Gourock in 1776 in the burial ground at what is now Chapel Street. . The parish church (now Old Gourock and Ashton Church) was not constructed until 1832. Ministers (or readers) appointed to chapels of ease were licensed to preach, but could not administer the sacraments.
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| Gourock burying ground - site of chapel of ease |
While at Gourock John Hendry married Mary Adam (1765-1858) in 1805. Mary was the daughter of Rev Dr John Adam of the Mid Parish Church in Greenock. Hendry later became friendly with Adam’s successor Rev Dr Scott.
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| Mid Parish Church, Greenock |
In 1796 he left Gourock and was presented by the Earl of Eglinton to the parish of Dalry in Ayrshire as assistant to the Rev John Fullarton (1735-1802). John Fullarton had succeeded his father, also John Fullarton (d1761) to the charge at Dalry. John, who in 1766 married Greenock woman Helen Donald, had a brother, Gavin Fullarton (1737-1795) who was a surgeon at Greenock and another brother, William a merchant in Greenock.
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| Gravestone of Gavin and William Fullarton in Inverkip Street Cemetery, Greenock |
On the death of John Fullarton in 1802, John Hendry, who had just been at Dalry as assistant, moved to Stevenston again as an assistant to Rev Dr James Wodrow (1730-1810). He was the son of the well-known church historian Robert Woodrow. Hendry remained at Stevenston until the death of Wodrow.
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| St John's Church, Dalry |
In June 1810 he was at last ordained as “assistant and successor” to Rev John Duncan (1750-1819) of Ardrossan. On the death of Rev Duncan in 1819, he was appointed his successor and became a full parish minister. A few years later, after a visit to the north of Scotland, he suffered a bout of typhus from which he never fully recovered. He suffered problems with his speech which affected his communication both in the pulpit and with his parishioners. As his health deteriorated, it was decided that he needed an assistant. The Rev John Campbell Bryce (1800-1858) was appointed and began in 1828. He was presented to the congregation by the Earl of Eglinton and was ordained officially as assistant and successor at Ardrossan in July 1830.
Rev John Hendry died in 1835. He was (not very complementary) described as -
“tall and stately and well-formed, although latterly he was corpulent and rather unwieldy. His countenance was manly, and very expressive of good sense. He was a person of great modesty and genuine humility; in large companies he spoke very little.”
John Hendry and Mary Adam had a son, John Adam Hendry (1806-1837) who became a surgeon in Ardrossan.
Mary Adam’s father Rev Dr John Adam (1720-1792) was the
second minister of the Mid Parish Church in Greenock. She had two brothers – Robert a merchant in
North Carolina and John, a merchant in Greenock. You can read more abut the family on these
Greenockian Blog posts –
Rev Dr John Adam of the Mid Parish, Greenock
Robert Adam Merchant – Greenock and Fayetteville, NorthCarolina
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