The Rev. Robert Ferguson MacNicol, Minister of St. James' Presbyterian Church, was born in Dublin in 1838. of Scottish parents, whose home was in Glasgow. At the age of sixteen he entered the university of that city, and passed through the curriculum prescribed by the Church of Scotland. In 1863 Mr. MacNicol was licensed as a preacher by the Presbytery of Lorne, and was ordained by the same presbytery in 1865. Having been sent out to Auckland with a commission from the Church of Scotland, he became the first minister of the Presbyterian Church in New Plymouth, and in 1869 was inducted into the charge of St. James' Church, where he still remains. The reverend gentleman is one of the oldest city ministers (being contemporary with Archdeacon Dudley). He was appointed moderator of the General Assembly in 1880, and has held several other offices in connection with his church.