Biography

James Forbes (1813-1851), Presbyterian clergyman, was the eldest son of Peter Forbes, farmer of New Braes, in the parish of Leochel-Cushnie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and his wife Margaret. After education at a parish school and King's College, he studied mathematics and theology at Aberdeen University (M.A., 1836). He was then licensed by the presbytery of Garioch, but before taking up parish work he decided to teach at a school in Colchester, England. He was ordained by the presbytery of Glasgow on 29 June 1837. Invited by Rev. John Dunmore Lang to work in New South Wales he sailed in the Portland, and arrived in Sydney in December 1837. Ordered by the presbytery of Sydney to Port Phillip, in January 1838 he travelled in the James Watt to Melbourne, where Rev. James Clow, newly arrived from Van Diemen's Land, had begun services of worship for the Presbyterian community. Forbes first served briefly in Geelong and then, at Clow's suggestion, returned to Melbourne.

E. L. French, 'Forbes, James (1813–1851)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/forbes-james-2053/text2547, published first in hardcopy 1966, accessed online 25 July 2024.

Gender

• Male

Occupations

• Minister