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((about|the Scottish writer|the New York politician|Alexander Webster (New York politician)|the American football player|Alex Webster (American football)|the Australian cricketer|Alexander Webster (cricketer)|the South African boxer|Alexander Webster (boxer)))
((More citations needed|date=April 2016))
((Use dmy dates|date=January 2018))
((Use British English|date=January 2018))
[[File:Alexander Webster Caricature.jpg|thumb|right|200 px|Caricature (published 1785) by [[John Kay (caricaturist)|John Kay]] depicting Alexander Webster preaching to a congregation filled with people notorious for never coming to church.]]
[[File:Culross Abbey (Parish Church), Fife.JPG|thumb|300px|Culross Parish Church, Fife]]
[[File:St Giles' from Parliament Square.png|thumb|300px|St Giles' from Parliament Square]]
'''Alexander Webster''' (1707((snd))25 January 1784) was a Scottish writer and minister of the [[Church of Scotland]], who served as [[Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland]] in 1753. After his service as Moderator he was addressed as '''Very Rev Dr Alexander Webster'''.

==Life==
He was born in [[Edinburgh]] in 1707, the son of Rev James Webster, second charge of Tolbooth parish in [[St Giles Cathedral]] and a covenanting minister, originally from [[Fife]]. Alexander was educated at the High School of Edinburgh then studied at [[Edinburgh University]]. He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of [[Haddington, East Lothian|Haddington]] in March 1733.<ref>''Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae''; by Hew Scott</ref>

In September 1733 Alexander was ordained as minister of the Church of Scotland at [[Culross]] Parish Church in western [[Fife]]. On 2 June 1737 he was translated to Tolbooth parish, one of the four parishes contained in [[St Giles Cathedral]] in [[Edinburgh]].

He propounded a scheme in 1742 for providing pensions for the widows of ministers. The tables which he drew up from information obtained from all the presbyteries of Scotland were based on a system of [[actuarial science|actuarial calculation]] that supplied a precedent followed by insurance companies in modern times for reckoning averages of longevity.<ref name="EB1911">((EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Webster, Alexander |volume=28 |page=459))</ref>

Webster published in 1748 his ''Calculations'', setting forth the principles on which his scheme for widows' pensions was based; he also wrote a defence of the [[Methodist]] movement in 1742, and ''Zeal for the Civil and Religious Interests of Mankind Commended'' (1754).<ref name="EB1911"/>

In 1755 the government commissioned Webster to obtain data for the first [[census]] of Scotland, which he carried out in the same year.<ref>((Cite web|url=https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/guides/census-records/webster%E2%80%99s-census-of-1755|title=National Records of Scotland|last=National Records of Scotland Web Team|date=2013-05-31|website=National Records of Scotland|language=English|access-date=2019-03-03))</ref><ref>((Cite web|url=https://digital.nls.uk/scottish-history-society-publications/browse/archive/126796467#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=47&xywh=-438,-158,2605,3156|title=Volume 44 - Scottish population statistics, including Webster's Analysis of population, 1755 - Series 3 - National Library of Scotland|website=digital.nls.uk|access-date=2019-03-03))</ref>  In 1753 he was elected [[Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland]]. In 1771 he was appointed a Dean of the [[Chapel Royal]] and [[Ecclesiastical Household|Chaplain in Ordinary]] to [[George III of the United Kingdom|George III]] in Scotland.<ref name="EB1911"/>

In 1775 he is listed as living on Castlehill, at the top of the [[Royal Mile]].<ref>((Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/williamsonsdirec17751776will|title=Williamson's directory for the city of Edinburgh, Canongate, Leith, and suburbs, from June 1775, to June 1776 ...|first=Peter|last=Williamson|date=9 June 1775|publisher=Edinburgh: : Printed by and for Peter Williamson ...|via=Internet Archive))</ref>

Socially, despite his 'High Flying' Evangelical position in the Kirk, he was a convivial man, known as ''Bonum Magnum'' for his capacity for claret. His wife's nephew Boswell often mentions dining with the family.

He died in Edinburgh on 25 January 1784 and is buried beside Mary in [[Greyfriars Kirkyard]], Edinburgh, in a now-unmarked grave.

==Family==
[[File:James Boswell and Samuel Johnson plaque, Edinburgh.jpg|thumb|James Boswell and Samuel Johnson plaque, Edinburgh]]
In June 1737 he was married to Mary Erskine (d.1766), daughter of Col. John Erskine of [[Alva, Clackmannanshire|Alva]]. They had several children.

*His two eldest sons, John (b. 1738) and [[James Webster (officer)|James]] (b. 1740), served in the [[American Revolutionary War]]. John was a Captain in the 4th Regiment of Foot. James ('Jamie') was especially well regarded as Lieutenant-Colonel of the 33rd Foot, [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis|Lord Cornwallis]]'s own regiment, and acting Brigadier. When he died of wounds after the [[battle of Guilford Courthouse]] in 1781, Cornwallis wrote a touching letter of condolence to Alexander Webster.
*The third son, George Webster (1744-1794) served as paymaster in the HEICS and died in [[Bengal]].
*William Webster (1750-1767) died in his youth.
*His eldest daughter Ann (1752-1786) married Captain Eyre Robert Mingay of the [[66th Regiment of Foot]]<ref>[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/10796/page/3/data.pdf The London Gazette. Issue 10796]</ref>
*Alexander Webster (1754-1782) [[first mate]] on the [[East Indiaman]] "Dutton" - died at sea
*Basil Webster (1757-1759) died in infancy

Mary's sister Euphemia Erskine, was the mother of [[James Boswell]] and Boswell visited the family on Castlehill with his friend Dr Johnson. A plaque on the building makes reference to Boswell but not to Webster.

Webster wrote of his wife Mary:

:When I see thee, I love thee, but hearing adore,
:I wonder, and think you a woman no more;
:Till, mad with admiring, I cannot contain,
:And, kissing those lips, find you woman again.

==References==
((reflist))

==Sources==
*[[Robert Chambers (journalist)|Robert Chambers]], ''Traditions of Edinburgh'', 1824.

((Authority control))

((DEFAULTSORT:Webster, Alexander))
[[Category:1707 births]]
[[Category:1784 deaths]]
[[Category:Writers from Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Burials at Greyfriars Kirkyard]]
[[Category:18th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland]]
[[Category:Scottish non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland|Webster]]
[[Category:People associated with Fife]]
[[Category:Scottish statisticians]]
[[Category:British actuaries]]
[[Category:Ministers of St Giles' Cathedral]]
[[Category:Clergy from Edinburgh]]

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