William Sommerville
William Sommerville was born in Ballyroney near Rathfriland in County Down in 1800. He was prepared for ministerial studies under his minister Rev John Stewart before attending Glasgow University and the Theological Hall in Paisley. In 1831 he was installed as Missionary to the British North American Provinces, settled Cornwallis Valley, in Nova Scotia. He was called to minister to Presbyterians, Grand Pre, Horton Township, and with clear teaching formed a Reformed Presbyterian congregation later united with Cornwallis.
His abilities were those of a powerful evangelical preacher, and a resolute defender of Scripture doctrine. His genial spirit and earnest benevolence attracted many to the acceptance of the Covenanter faith. He met and measured spiritual weapons with all opponents of different denominations. His controversies were principally with the Baptists and their mode of applying water in the sacrament of baptism; and with other denominations for the exclusive use of the Psalms of David as a matter of praise in divine worship. He was a gifted controversialist, and his pen was seldom at rest.
After a labour of forty-seven years as a pioneer missionary in this region, he died at his home in Somerset, Kings County, Nova Scotia, September 28, 1878.
The Psalms of David Designed for Standing Use in the Church (1835)
A Treatise on Psalmody, Addressed to the Worshippers of God (1837)
A Dissertation on the Nature and Administration of the Ordinance of Baptism (1845)
A Dissertation on the Nature and Administration of the Ordinance of Baptism (1845, 1866)
The Exclusive Claims of David's Psalms (1855)
The Study of the Bible Adapted to Promote Intellectual Improvement (1858)
Southern Slavery Not Founded on Scripture Warrant (1864)
The Social Position of the Reformed Presbyterians, or Cameronians (1869)
Baptismal Immersion Not of God: Arguments Pro and Con (1876)