Robert McCheyne was born in Edinburgh on 21 May 1813. He was educated at the city's Royal High School and then he studied at Edinburgh University, matriculating in 1827. In 1831, he began studies at Divinity Hall and was licensed to preach in 1835. In November 1835 he was appointed as Assistant to the Rev. John Bonar of Larbert and Dunipace, Stirling. He became a well-known preacher and was ordained to St. Peter's Church, Dundee, in November 1836. In 1839 he was part of a committee sent to Palestine by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland to collect information about Jews. McCheyne and Andrew Bonar (d. 1892) recorded their journey in Narrative of a mission of inquiry to the Jews (1842). The Rev. Robert McCheyne died on 25 March 1843, and he was buried by St. Peter's Church, Dundee.
From the guide to the Papers of the Rev. Robert Murray McCheyne (1813-1843), 1811-1848, (Edinburgh University Library)
