PHOTOGRAPHS
Hill, David Octavius; Adamson, Robert
Scotland (1802 - 1870); Scotland (1821 - 1848)
Reverend Thomas Scott of Peel
c. 1846
Salted paper print from calotype paper negative
8 3/16 x 5 7/8 in. (20.8 x 14.9 cm) image size; 14 3/4 x 10 5/8 in. (37.5 x 27 cm) sheet size
Joseph and Elaine Monsen Photography Collection, gift of Joseph and Elaine Monsen and The Boeing Company
FA 97.246

In 1843, David Octavius Hill witnessed the dramatic exodus of over 450 ministers from the Church of Scotland in protest of the Scottish Parliament’s encroachment on the spiritual independence of the Church. These ministers founded the Free Church of Scotland, a distinct Presbyterian denomination in Scotland that exists to this day. Hill, a painter by trade, wished to record the 1843 disruption and was convinced by a friend to use photography to capture the likenesses of all of the ministers present. Reverend Thomas Scott of Peel is one of the many portraits Hill used to complete a large painting of the scene in 1866. -- Label copy for Somebody, April 1 to August 3, 2008.