 He was chaplain to His Majesty's Prison Edinburgh from 1905 until 1908, when he was called to Cambuslang on 24 June 1908.There he served for a staggering 51 years, well into his dotage.He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1910 his proposers being David Fowler Lowe, Robert Taylor Skinner and James Haig Ferguson.