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Following
the death of the Rev William Branks, the Rev John Johnston was inducted in
1878. We do not know much about
Mr Johnston, but he served the Parish for 19 years and there is a plaque to
his memory on the north wall inside the Kirk. He died in Edinburgh on the 25th
August 1897.
The Rev George Beale was inducted in 1898; he
served the Kirk and the community well and he was well loved by all who
knew him. He took part in local
activities and committee. This band, which is now known as the Torphichen
and Bathgate Pipe Band, is the oldest civilian Pipe Band in the World.
In 1931, when the Free Kirk in Torphichen united
with the Auld Kirk in Torphichen, the Rev George Beale retired.
Rev John Duns of the Free Kirk was succeeded
in 1846 by the Rev Robert MacMorran, who was succeeded in 1868 by the Rev.
William Young. In 1871, William
Jeffrey arrived and he was succeeded by the Rev A F Murray and at an
unknown date, the Rev James Stewart followed and, again at an unknown date,
there came, the Rev James Baikie.
We now come to a very important period in the
life of the Kirk and the community in Torphichen. In 1927 the Rev Dr Patrick Hugh
Robson MacKay MBE, ChStJ, PhD, became minister of the Free Kirk. He served
the Free Kirk in Torphichen until 1931.
The rest of the Free Kirk in Scotland had
already reunited with the Church of Scotland in 1929, but as usual,
Torphichen has its own way of doing things and the reunion here did not
take place until 1931 when Dr MacKay became minister of Torphichen Parish
Kirk.
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