Forbes was born in
Edinburgh, the second son of
John Hay Forbes, Lord Medwyn, a judge of the court of session, and grandson of
Sir William Forbes, 6th Baronet of Pitsligo. He studied first at the
Edinburgh Academy, then for two years under the
Rev. Thomas Dale the poet, in Kent, passed one session at
Glasgow University in 1831 and, having chosen the career of the
Indian Civil Service, completed his studies with distinction at the
East India Company College. In 1836 he went to Madras and secured early promotion, but in consequence of ill health, he was obliged to return to England. In 1840, he entered
Brasenose College, Oxford, where in 1841 he obtained the
Boden Sanskrit scholarship. He graduated with a B.A. in 1844. He was at Oxford during the early years of the movement known as
Tractarianism, and was powerfully influenced by association with
John Henry Newman,
Edward Bouverie Pusey, and
John Keble. This led him to resign his Indian appointment. In 1844 he was ordained
deacon and priest in the
Church of England, and held curacies at
Aston Rowant and
St Thomas's, Oxford; but being naturally attracted to the
Episcopal Church of his native land, then recovering from long depression, he removed in 1846 to
Stonehaven, the chief town of Kincardineshire. The same year, however, he was appointed to the vicarage of
St Saviour Church, Richmond Hill, Leeds, a church founded to preach and illustrate
Tractarian principles. He died at Dundee on 8 October 1875. This collection includes correspondence with E. B. Pusey and
William Gladstone. St Drostan's Episcopal Church in
Tarfside,
Glen Esk, was built in 1879 in memory of Bishop Forbes. ==Principal works==