James Sievewright (1783–1852) graduated from Marischal College in Aberdeen, Scotland and became tutor to the children of Alexander Stewart, whose life and work he records in this volume. In 1815 he was ordained by the Church of Scotland – he must have been well-connected as his patron, George the Prince Regent, later became King George IV. In 1818 he became the minister of St. Drostan’s, Markinch in Fife where he remained for the rest of his life. In 1843 at the Disruption, he and most of his congregation aligned themselves with the Free Church of Scotland – of which he became Moderator in 1847.
