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John Burns (13 February 1744 – 26 February 1839) was born in Stirling, the son of John Burns of Stirth and Janet Young of Risk.He was a minister in the Church of Scotland, and he served a Glasgow cure longer than any minister on record, having been in the Barony for sixty-nine years. Four of these years he was assistant to Lawrence Hill, and sixty-five as minister himself. Burns became a Doctor of Divinity (DD).
He was an ally of the Anti-Slavery Society and the Bible Society. Although Robert Raikes is usually credited with establishing the first Sunday school in the early 1780s, Burns opened a "Sabbath Night School" in Calton in 1774 or 1775.
He married Elizabeth Stevenson, daughter of John Stevenson, brewer in Glasgow. Among Burns's nine children, John Burns (1775–1850) became Regius Professor of Surgery at the University of Glasgow, Allan Burns (1781–1813) was a physician to the Imperial Court of Russia, James Burns (1789–1871) was a shipowner and George Burns (1795–1890) was his partner in G & J Burns.