John R. (John Ross) Macduff

Born at Bonhard near Perth on May 23, 1818, John Ross Macduff was educated at the University of Edinburgh and became a minister in the Church of Scotland. He served congregations at Kettins, St. Madoes, and later Sandyford in Glasgow, where he spent many of his best-known years in ministry.

Macduff became especially known for devotional and religious writing rather than for one single famous title. His books and essays were written in a warm, practical, encouraging voice, and they reached a wide audience in Britain and beyond. He also wrote hymns and was remembered as a pastor who tried to bring comfort to the sick, the grieving, and ordinary believers.

After leaving pastoral work in 1871, he continued writing and also traveled, including to Palestine. He died on April 30, 1895, in Chislehurst, Kent, leaving behind a large body of devotional literature that kept his name alive for many readers long after his lifetime.