Born in 1596 at
Kinnaird, Gowrie, he was the younger son of John Baron of Kinnaird. After graduating from the
University of St Andrews in 1613, he became a teacher of
Philosophy there until, in 1619, he entered the ministry and took charge of parish of
Keith. In the latter charge his predecessor had been the famous
Patrick Forbes. He held this position until 27 October 1624, when he was
translated to
Greyfriars parish,
Aberdeen. In the following year, on 21 December 1625, he was appointed as the first
Professor of Divinity at
Marischal College, a post he would hold simultaneously with his charge at Greyfriars. In 1627, he earned his
Doctorate in Divinity, the thesis for which began a long theological dispute with
George Turnbull, a Scottish
Jesuit theologian. Baron was a firm supporter of the
Anglicanising religious policies of Kings
James VI and
Charles I. He opposed the
National Covenant of 1638 both through preaching and writings, including three tracts that were co-authored with
John Forbes, both of whom, along with four others, were referred to by the
Presbyterians as "the
Aberdeen doctors". In this year Baron was nominated to be
Bishop of Orkney, but was unable to receive consecration. He fled to
England in the Spring of 1639 to avoid being forced to sign the
National Covenant. He was on his way back to Scotland later in the year, but fell ill and died at
Berwick-upon-Tweed on 19 August 1639. Baron married once, to Jean
née Gibson, a girl from
Strathisla in
Aberdeenshire. They had four children. Baron left a great number of published and unpublished works. After his death the Covenanters forced his widow to allow them to see his papers, after which they accused him of
Arminianism. Following
the Restoration, the crown paid his family £200 in reward for his loyalty to King Charles I. ==References==