William McKerrow

William McKerrow (7 September 1803 – 4 June 1878) was a Scottish minister of the Presbyterian Church of England who had a particular interest in education. He lived for most of his life in Manchester, England, where he immersed himself in the radical politics prevalent there at the time.

Early life

William McKerrow was born on 7 September 1803. His parents were William and Elizabeth McKerrow, both of whom were very involved with the United Secession Church, which was a small sect formed from a schism of the wider Presbyterian church. He was schooled at Kilmarnock Academy and then attended the University of Glasgow between 1817 and 1823. In 1821, he had joined the Divinity Hall of the United Secession Church and in 1826 he was licensed to preach. A year later, in May, he moved to Manchester to take a position in the Lloyd Street Presbyterian chapel, with which he remained associated for the rest of his life. He was ordained on 7 September 1827.

Church work McKerrow did much to bring together the Presbyterian church in Manchester and the surrounding areas. He assisted in the foundation of several new churches and also in the creation of the Lancashire presbytery in 1831, as well as in the subsequent establishment of the United Presbyterian Church in 1847. Later, in 1863, he was involved in forming the English synod of that church, of which he served as moderator in 1866–1867, and later still he had involvement in the 1876 union from which emerged the Presbyterian Church of England. McKerrow acted as moderator of this latter organisation in 1877–1878. In addition to these efforts, he also had a significant role in the move of the Lloyd Street Chapel congregation to new premises on Brunswick Street, from which base it became, according to biographer Ian Sellers, "one of Manchester's most influential churches."

Later in the 1840s, McKerrow was involved with the Peace Society and the United Kingdom Alliance. He was among the founders of the Lancashire Public School Association in 1847, which also began in the Lloyd Street Chapel building and in December 1850, with the assistance of Richard Cobden, became a national body. Other involvements in educational matters included promotion of a model secular school in Jackson's Row, Manchester, and in 1853 he gave evidence on education to a parliamentary committee. He also took part in deputations to parliament. He had been awarded the degree of D.D. by the University of Heidelberg in 1851.