Neil Campbell

Neil Campbell (1678 - 1761) was a Scottish Minister, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland at the start of the Original Secession and Principal of Glasgow University during a flourishing period of the Scottish Enlightenment. Life Neil Campbell's origins are obscure, though it is clear he was well connected to the Patronage networks of the Argyle Interest, which was to triumph in the so-called Glorious Revolution. Hew Scott's "Fasti Ecclesiae..." (which was based on reading original parish records) says he was the son of Major John Campbell of the Clenary family, but Neil was sent to his uncle, Rev Patrick Campbell of Glenaray and his wife Jean McIver, to raise and educate him in the church. Some genealogy websites, and others who may have access to private family papers, suggest he was the, possibly illegitimate, son of a John Campbell (and possibly a cadet of the Argyle family).