12. John Hutchinson

Dates of Rectorship: 1834 – 1844/1846

Before –
1834: Ordained Deacon and Priest

Additional Information –
Details of Hutchinson’s life other than the above are totally unknown. His time at Stonehaven began unremarkably, but around halfway through his rectorship, he began to drink heavily and neglect his duties. In 1842, he apparently attacked the rector at Muchalls. The bishop at the time, David Moir, was a calm and humble man. Had his personality been different, it is likely Hutchinson’s tenure at Stonehaven would have ended then and there. Moir being a reconciler, he tried very hard to smooth over the situation, not least because just under a fifth of the congregation were supporters of Hutchinson.

At the end of 1845, he was suspended for forty days. The last straw was his display of contempt for the bishop and diocesan officials by angrily walking out of a meeting with them. This after several years of failure to attend meetings at all. He refused to comply with the ruling, and so was later declared to be “no longer a priest of the Diocese of Brechin”, the sentence active as of January 1844. This is the reason for there being two dates of his leaving Stonehaven. Legally, he ceased to be the rector in 1844, but in practice he was the rector until 1846, when forcibly removed.

Around the same time, a young priest newly ordained in the Church of England was seeking appointment in Scotland to be near to his mother. One imagines the relief of the bishop at finding a replacement so quickly. He was quickly instituted as the new rector of Stonehaven. This is Alexander Penrose Forbes, later the bishop of this diocese.

There is a probably apocryphal story which, if true, would have probably occured during Hutchinson’s time at St. James, and it certainly fits his supposed character –

In the 1830s, the General Synod was attempting to encourage use of the surplice (a long, white, gown-like vestment) as the “proper sacerdotal style”, as opposed to the black Geneva gown favoured by Presbyterians and some Episcopalians of the time. In Stonehaven, the non-jurors of the 18th century wore surplices, but in the qualified chapel, the Geneva gown was probably worn. At the renunion of the two congregations in the early 19th century, the gown was likely favoured.

Enter Rev. John Hutchinson. Having acquired a surplice, and reinstituted use of it for services, he was quite taken with it, and began wearing it around the church building, even outwith services.
On one particular day, a local youth had come into the church, sat down in the priest’s chair in the sanctuary, and fallen asleep.
After catching him in the act, the rector angrily asked if the boy was “glaikit” (stupid).
The boy replied: “Me glaikit!? Ah’m nae the one wearin’ a serk aboon mi claes…” (Me stupid!? I’m not the one wearing a shirt on top of my clothes…)