East Lothian Courier : Antique religious book returned to family after nearly 100 years

[URISP id=13546]

AN ANTIQUE religious book which was gifted in 1918 to a brother of the then Archbishop of Canterbury by an East Lothian parish has been reunited with descendants of the original owner, nearly a century later.

The very old Scottish Hymnal was discovered by James King among his deceased father’s possessions in Broxburn, West Lothian.

The hymnal had been presented by the congregation of Whittingehame Parish Church to the Rev Marshall Lang on the occasion of his induction on November 14, 1918 – only three days after the end of the First World War.

James, who also lives in Broxburn, tried to trace descendants of the original owner and even put an appeal in the local paper but unfortunately had no success.

Finders International, professional probate genealogists and stars of BBC’s Heir Hunters programme, took up the appeal and found a great grandson, Donald Hugh Miller Farquharson, from Banchory, Aberdeenshire.

Donald said: “It was a great surprise to learn about the existence of this book and it is very special to be reunited with something of my great grandfather’s.

“We are delighted to have it and will keep it safe for generations to come.

“A big thank you to James King who instigated the search for us and also to Danny Curran and the team at Finders International who found us and who made this reunification possible.”

Mr Lang was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1935.

His father was also Moderator in 1893, while his brother, the Most Rev Cosmo Gordon Lang i.e. Baron Lang of Lambeth, was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1928 to 1942.

Mr Lang is buried at Whittingehame Parish Church.

This article has been first published in eastlothiancourier.com