Henry Duncan (minister)

Henry Duncan
Henry Duncan from Disruption Worthies[1]
Personal details
Born8 October 1774
Died12 February 1846(1846-02-12) (aged 71)
NationalityScottish
Occupationminister known for founding the world's first commercial savings bank
Henry Duncan by Hill & Adamson
Rev. William Wallace Duncan, Rev. Dr George John Craig Duncan (Henry's son and biographer) and Rev. Henry Duncan
Annan Presbytery by Hill & Adamson from National Galleries Scotland
Mrs Mary Duncan wife of Henry Duncan
Henry Duncan in oil
Henry Duncan statue, Church Crescent, Dumfries
Ruthwell Cross South Face

Henry Duncan FRSE (8 October 1774 – 12 February 1846) was a Scottish minister, geologist and social reformer. The minister of Ruthwell in Dumfriesshire, he founded the world's first mutual savings bank that would eventually form part of the Trustee Savings Bank. He served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1839. At the Disruption has left the Church of Scotland and sided with the Free Church. He was also a publisher, a philanthropist and an author, writing novels as well as works of science and religion.