George Skene Keith

George Skene Keith (6 November 1752 – 7 March 1823) was a Scottish minister and versatile writer.

Life The Keiths of Aquhorsk descended from Alexander Keith, third son of William Keith, 2nd Earl Marischal. The eldest son of James Keith, he was born in the Old House of Aquhorsk in Marr, near Aberdeen, on 6 November 1752. He took his degree from Marischal College and the University of Aberdeen in 1770, was licensed by the presbytery of Aberdeen on 14 July 1774.

Keith was presented by the commissioners for George Keith, 10th Earl Marischal, 9 May 1776, to the living of Keith-Hall and Kinkell, Caskieben, Aberdeen. A legal difficulty arose when, the following day, the Earl Marischal himself, then resident in Potsdam, gave a presentation to Thomas Tait, minister of Old Machar. After legal proceedings in the church courts and the court of session, the case was finally decided in Keith's favour by the House of Lords in April 1778 and he was ordained to the living on 14 May 1778. He received the degree of D.D. from Marischal College in May 1803. He was translated from Keith-Hall to Tulliallan, Perthshire, by George Keith Elphinstone, Viscount Keith, and admitted on 18 July 1822. The House of Commons voted Keith £500 for his experiments. John, born on 7 May 1797, was ordained assistant and successor at Keith-Hall on 3 May 1821, and succeeded to the charge on his father's translation. He wrote the account of the parish for the new Statistical Account of Scotland (1845).