(13 Feb. 1789-19 Aug. 1869), clergyman. Born at Barrowstowness, Scotland. He was one of the founders of the Glasgow Colonial Society, which was important in supplying Presbyterian ministers to the struggling pioneer Presbyterian congregations in Canada. He visited Canada in 1844 as a deputy of the Free Church of Scotland, visiting GC then for the first time. He returned to Scotland, but was soon back in Canada, which now became his home for the remainder of his life. He was the minister of Knox Church, Toronto, from 1845 and taught at Knox College in Toronto. He died in Toronto. He has been described as the Father of the Free Church in Canada. His son wrote that “There was no spot in the province my father loved so much to visit as Glengarry.” For his importance in GC history, see also the entry for his nephew, the Rev. William C. Burns.

Life in DNB & ODict & by H. J. Bridgman Dictionary of Canadian Biography, IX, 104-108 * R. F. Burns, The Life and Times of the Rev. Robert Burns… including an Unfinished Autobiography (Toronto, 1872); see 195-196, 265-267, 297-299, 426 for GC