author
John Howie
1735–1793
A Scottish farmer and biographer, he is best remembered for gathering the lives of Presbyterian martyrs and ministers into a book that became widely known as The Scots Worthies. Writing from his family home at Lochgoin, he helped preserve a powerful strand of Scotland’s religious history.
1 Audiobook
About the author
John Howie was born on November 14, 1735, at Lochgoin in Scotland and died on January 5, 1793. Although he worked as a farmer, he became known as a biographer with a strong interest in Scotland’s Presbyterian past.
His best-known book was Biographia Scoticana, first published in 1775 and often called The Scots Worthies. The work recounts the lives of Scottish Christians, especially Presbyterians and Covenanters, and it went on to become a lasting classic of Scottish church history.
Howie’s connection to Lochgoin mattered deeply to his writing. His family home was known as a refuge linked with the Covenanters, and that background shaped his determination to record the stories of people he believed should not be forgotten.