Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Lamont, David

1429890Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 32 — Lamont, David1892George Washington Sprott

LAMONT, DAVID (1752–1837), Scottish divine, born in 1752, was son of John Lamont, minister of Kelton, Kirkcudbrightshire, by Margaret, daughter of John Affleck of Whitepark. His grandfather, John Lamont of Newton in Fifeshire, was descended from Allan Lamont, second minister of Scoonie, Fifeshire, after the Reformation. He was licenced by the presbytery of Kirkcudbright in 1772, and inducted to the parish of Kirkpatrick-Durbam in that county in 1774. He was made D.D. by the university of Edinburgh in 1780, was appointed chaplain to the Prince of Wales in 1785, moderator of the general assembly in 1822, chaplain-in-ordinary for Scotland in 1824, and died in 1837 in the eighty-fifth year of his age and sixty-third of his ministry. As moderator of the general assembly he read an address to George IV, and preached before him in St. Giles's, Edinburgh, during his visit to Scotland, Lamont was a liberal in politics and theology, a popular preacher, an able debater in church courts, an eloquent platform speaker, and held a prominent place among the cultivated and dignified clergy of the time. A considerable landowner, he divided his property into small holdings, promoted local manufactories, formed benevolent societies among his tenants and parishioners, and 'gained the affection and esteem of all who witnessed his generous and enlightened exertions.' In 1799 he married Anne, daughter of David Anderson, esq., H.M. Customs, and had a son John, an advocate, afterwards a brewer in London. His works are: 1. Two Sermons, Dumfries, 1785-97. 2. 'Sermons on the most prevalent Vices,' London, 1780. 3. 'Sermons on Important Subjects,' 2 vols, 1780-87. 4. 'Subscription to the Confession of Faith consistent with Liberty of Conscience,' Edinburgh, 1790. 5. 'Account of the Parish of Kirkpatrick-Durham's (Sir John Sinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland, vol, ii.). 6. Sermon, in Gillan's 'Scottish Pulpit.'

[Scott's Fasti; Preface to Lamont's Diary; Heron's Journey; Caledonian Mercury, January 1837.]

G. W. S.