History of St Thomas Church - Part One

St.   Thomas   Church   was   built   in   1830-31,   as   a   successor   to a   very   modest   cottage   and   chapel   which   had   been   erected in   1785   at   Kempcairn,   about   one   km   outside   the   town.     Upon   the   death   of   Father   W.   Reid   there   in   1825,   a   new priest,   Father   Walter   Lovi,   was   appointed   to   Keith,   and   he began   raising   money   to   build   a   new   church.      To   do   so,   he travelled    throughout    the    United    Kingdom,    Ireand    and France.        From    1827    until    the    new    church    was    finished, services were held in a little chapel in Land Street. Father    Lovi    was    a    native    of    Edinburgh,    and    at    that    time    there    were    many    French    Royalist refugees   in   the   city.      The   refugees   were   supporters   of   Charles   X,   who   had   been   restored   to   the French   throne   in   1824.      As   the   Comte   d’Artois,   Charles   had   been   given   sanctuary   in   the   Scottish capital    following    the    French    Revolution.        Here,    he    had    been    befriended    by    Adam    Gordon, Governor   of   Edinburgh   Castle,   and   son   of   Duke   of   Gordon   ,   whose   castle   was   in   Fochabers,   eight miles from Keith.

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