Willielma Campbell

Willielma Campbell, Viscountess Glenorchy (1741-1786) was a patroness of evangelical missionary work in Scotland and beyond.

Willielma Maxwell was born, in Galloway, as the daughter of the wealthy William Maxwell of Preston and Elizabeth Hairstanes. On 26 September 1761, she married John Campbell, Viscount Glenorchy, eldest son of John Campbell, 3rd Earl of Breadalbane and Holland, one of Scotland's greatest landowners.

In 1765, while recovering from illness, she came under the influence of the sister of Rowland Hill (the evangelical Anglican preacher), and experienced a religious conversion. Particularly after her husband's death in 1771, she devoted herself and her wealth to furthering evangelical causes, becoming an influential figure in Scottish Church affairs. She held evangelistic services in her Edinburgh home open to both rich and poor, and also established several chapels in both Scotland and England. She influenced many to enter the ministry.

As early as 1770, encouraged by Alexander Webster, she set up a chapel in Edinburgh. What was unusual for the time was the ecumenical nature of the enterprise, in that the intention was that Presbyterian, Episcopalian and Methodist ministers would be invited to preach.

In 1773, Lady Glenorchy renovated the chapel in Strathfillan, Perthshire and, under the auspices of the Scottish SPCK provided an endowment for a minister and two regional missionaries in that region.

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