About this artwork
As a young parish priest Thomas Chalmers pursued an academic rather than a church career. After a serious illness he returned to preaching with a fervour and intensity that soon won him national fame. When he moved from rural Kilmany to industrial Glasgow in 1815 he was shocked by the appalling poverty he encountered, which he strongly believed was caused by the breakdown of communal responsibility. In a social experiment he denied paupers in his parish institutional poor relief and instead revived traditional community spirit and a duty of care for the poor, whom he encouraged to regain their independence through ‘labour, thrift and temperance’. After this experiment Chalmers quit parish preaching and, in 1843, he led the breakaway group that formed the Free Church.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Thomas Duncan (1807 - 1845) Scottish
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title:Rev. Thomas Chalmers, 1780 - 1847. Preacher and social reformer
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date created:1840
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materials:Oil on canvas
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measurements:128.00 x 102.00 cm; Framed: 165.60 x 139.00 x 12.50 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Presented by Mrs Gilbert Hole 1940
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accession number:PG 1394
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gallery:
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depicted:
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subject:
Thomas Duncan
Thomas Duncan
Born in Perthshire, Thomas Duncan studied law before entering the Trustees' Academy, Edinburgh in 1827 where he trained under William Allan. Primarily a portrait and history painter, many of his subjects were taken from Scottish history, particularly romantic, Jacobite incidents. He was appointed...