William B. R. Macmillan was a minister of the Church of Scotland

Church of Scotland

The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....

. He was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland

The Moderator of the General Assembly of Church of Scotland is a Minister, Elder or Deacon of the Church of Scotland chosen to "moderate" the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week in Edinburgh every May....

 in 1991.

Background and career

William Boyd Robertson Macmillan (better known as Bill) was born in Keith, Moray

Keith, Moray

Keith is a small town in the Moray council area in north east Scotland. It has a population of around 4,500....

 in 1927. He was a graduate of the University of Aberdeen

University of Aberdeen

The University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...

 in arts and divinity; he also did National Service

National service

National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...

 in the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

.

His first charge was at St Andrew's Church, Bo'ness

Bo'ness

Bo'ness, properly Borrowstounness, is a coastal town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on a hillside on the south bank of the Firth of Forth within the Falkirk council area, north-west of Edinburgh and east of Falkirk. At the 2001 census, Bo'ness had a resident population of 13,961...

 (1955-1960), followed by Fyvie

Fyvie

Fyvie is a village in the Formartine area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland.-Fyvie Castle:Fyvie Castle is reputed to have been built by King William the Lyon in the early thirteenth century...

 Parish Church, Aberdeenshire (1960-1967), then Bearsden

Bearsden

Bearsden ) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the northwestern fringe of Greater Glasgow, approximately from the City Centre, and is effectively a suburb, with housing development coinciding with the introduction of a railway line in 1863, and from where the town gets its name...

 South Parish Church (1967-1978).

He was minister of Dundee Parish Church (St Mary's)

Dundee Parish Church (St Mary's)

Dundee Parish Church is located in the east section of Dundee's "City Churches", the other being occupied by the Steeple Church. Both are congregations in the Church of Scotland, although with differing styles of worship....

 from 1978 until his retirement in 1993. During this time he came to national prominence in the Church of Scotland, as Convener of the Business Committee of the General Assembly and Convener of the Church of Scotland's Board of Practice and Procedure. He was appointed a Chaplain to the Queen (1988), received an honorary Doctorate in Law from the University of Dundee

University of Dundee

The University of Dundee is a university based in the city and Royal burgh of Dundee on eastern coast of the central Lowlands of Scotland and with a small number of institutions elsewhere....

 (1990), an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from the University of Aberdeen (1991) and served as Moderator of the General Assembly in 1991.

Following his Moderatorial year, his title was the Very Reverend Dr William B. R. Macmillan LLD DD.