Robert was entered as a student at this seat of learning
of his native city, and after a short period, in consequence of the
extraordinary aptitude he displayed for historical and bibliographical
researches, he was appointed to the office of librarian to the
University. While in this situation, which he held for four years, he
studied with the greatest earnestness the ecclesiastical and literary
history of his native land.
At the termination of his academical career he
resided for some time with his kinsman, Sir John Maxwell of Pollok, then
one of the Lords of Session. While living at Pollok a vacancy occurred
at Eastwood, and Mr. Wodrow was appointed, by the patronage of Sir John
Maxwell, to the ministry of the parish.
Wodrow was a most eloquent preacher, and besides
taking a prominent part in the public business of the Church, he
composed a History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland,
which was published in three folio volumes, in 1721 and 1722: also
several other works of a religious and literary nature. He seems
likewise to have devoted a considerable portion of his leisure time to
the study of antiquities and natural history. George Crawford, a
contemporary and friend of Wodrow’s, in his History of Renfrewshire,
mentions a collection of fossil shells which he had made, and
characterises him as "a gentleman well seen in the natural history of
the country."
The excellence of the History was quickly
acknowledged, and George I. gave an order to the Scottish Exchequer for
the Payment of an honorarium of one hundred guineas to the
author, as a testimony of his Majesty’s favourable opinion of its
merits; while the esteem in which his memory is held by the literary
antiquaries of Scotland may be inferred from the fact, that a society
under his name was established at Edinburgh for the publication of old
works of an ecclesiastical nature, many of which have been issued,
including some of Wodrew’s previously in MS.
The
churchyard of Eastwood contains an elegant monumental structure erected
to his memory. It bears the following inscription:-
Erected to the memory of the Rev. Robert Wodrow,
minister of Eastwood, the faithful historian of the sufferings of the
Church of Scotland from the year 1660 to 1688. He died on the 21st
March, 1734, in the
