Thomas Wingfold, Curate

George MacDonald was a Scottish pastor, poet, and novelist. He was born to a farmer of Huntly, Aberdeenshire in 1824. He studied at Aberdeen University and at Highbury College, London. He served as a Congregationalist pastor in England for three years, leaving because of dissatisfaction with Calvinist doctrine. After leaving the ministry, MacDonald spent his time writing and lecturing, including a trip to the United States, where he lectured in 1872-1873. He published works of poetry, fiction, and reflections on the Christian life. MacDonald died in 1905 and was buried in Boridighera, Italy. During his lifetime, he was friend to several well-known writers of the time, including Charles Dickens, Alfred Tennyson, Lewis Carroll, G.K. Chesterton, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Mark Twain, and Walt Whitman. His works have influenced authors such as C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, W.H. Auden, and many others.