Irving, Edward 1792-1834
Scottish clergyman and mystic

Born in Annan, Dumfriesshire, he studied at Edinburgh University, became a schoolmaster and in 1819 was appointed assistant to Thomas Chalmers in Glasgow. In 1822 he went to the Caledonian Church, Hatton Garden, London, where he enjoyed great success as a preacher. In 1825 he began to announce the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ, and was charged with heresy in 1828 for maintaining the sinfulness of Christ's nature. Convicted by the London presbytery in 1830, he was ejected from his new church in Regent's Square in 1832, and finally deposed in 1833. The majority of his congregation adhered to him, and a new communion, the Catholic Apostolic Church (known as Irvingite) developed. He wrote Homilies on the Sacraments (1828).