William Hanna (minister)

Rev William Hanna LLD DD (1808–1882) was a Scottish minister, known as theological writer and the biographer of Thomas Chalmers, his father-in-law.

Born in Belfast on 26 November 1808, he was the son of Rev Samuel Hanna, a minister there of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland. He studied at the University of Glasgow, going on to the University of Edinburgh where he studied under Thomas Chalmers.

In 1834 Hanna was licensed as a probationer of the Church of Scotland, and was ordained to East Kilbride, a parish near Glasgow, on 17 September 1835. In 1837 he was translated to the parish of Skirling, Peebles-shire, near Biggar. During the controversy that preceded the Disruption of 1843, he took an active part on the side of Chalmers and his allies; and left the establishment, taking his congregation with him.

Having resigned his charge at Skirling, Hanna removed permanently to Edinburgh, where in 1850 he was called to be colleague to Thomas Guthrie, as minister of St. John's Free Church. He received in 1852 the degree of LL.D. from the university of Glasgow; in 1864 he was made D.D. by the university of Edinburgh. In 1866 he retired from the active duties of the ministry.

He died in London, 24 May 1882. He is buried in the Grange Cemetery in south Edinburgh in the plot of his father-in-law, Thomas Chalmers (against the north wall).

On the death of Thomas Chalmers in 1847, Hanna was asked to write his life, and arranged a temporary exchange so he could reside for a time in Edinburgh. The Life came out in four volumes (1849–52), to which was added a fifth, containing extracts of Correspondence. Hanna also edited the Posthumous Works of Dr. Chalmers, in nine volumes. In 1847 he was appointed editor of the North British Review, but did not hold the post long.

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