Baptism from the Jail at Stonehaven, George Washington Browlow

George Washington Brownlow, native of Newcastle upon Tyne, who had studios in both London and Paris, exhibited frequently at the Royal Academy and the British Institute between 1858 and 1875. Brownlow lived in the neighbouring village of Muchalls from 1862 to 1865 and, during this time painted a number of pictures of local social and historic interest.

Brownlow used a number of local people as models in his painting of the baptism through the prison bars. Holding the basket containing the child being baptised were Robert Masson (possibly William Christie's father-in law) and his daughter Isabella. Behind Masson stood the 33-year old Andrew Christie who was later drowned at sea along with his son and three brothers in 1880. The woman in the mutch was Robert Masson's wife who, according to one account, died in 1893 and was buried in Cowie Churchyard. The woman next to Robert Masson has only been identified as 'Cowie Kirsty'. The little girl in the corner was Jane Christie, know as 'Jane Jo' and further described as 'Souter Willie's wife's sister'. The boy with the broad bonnet was William Masson, father of William Masson (formerly a cabinetmaker in Beachgate, Stonehaven). The girl in the tartan shawl was Mrs Lees, who lived in Albert Lane, Stonehaven. According to her, she and the more distant figure were merely intended by the artist to be passing spectators of the scene; she was later given the shawl by Brownlow as a gift. There is some confusion over the identity of the woman bending over the newly baptised child. According to one source, it was Isabella Masson, mentioned above, while another believes it to be her sister, Elizabeth Masson. The Rev. John Troup, the Muchalls' minister in the prison window, was modelled by a Rev. Skinner, an Essex clergyman on holiday. Much of this information was provided many years ago by Mrs Alexander Christie, another daughter of Robert and Mrs Masson and mother of the late James Christie of Castle Street, Stonehaven. The story was corroborated by the aforementioned Mrs Lees.

Rev. John Troup (1700-1776): John Troup was born about 1700 and may have been a student at Marischal College, Aberdeen, at the the time of the 1715 Rising. He became Incumbent of the Episcopal chapel at Muchalls in 1737 and opened a second chapel in the parish of Portlethen two years later. Both chapels were destroyed by Cumberland's troops in 1746 as they marched north towards Culloden. Troup, thereafter, held services in private houses before holding services in the open air in secluded places before a new chapel was built at Muchalls Castle in 1748. After his release, Troup lived quietly and with the accession of King George III in 1760 active persecution of Episcopalians diminished considerably. A new chapel was erected at Muchalls in 1770. Troup died on 17 August 1776.
John Petrie (d. 1761): In the early 1740s, Petrie was an Assistant at the Seagate Chapel in Dundee, before becoming Incumbent of the Episcopal chapel at Drumlithie in 1742. He died on 29 October, 1761.
Alexander Greig (1712-1793): Alexander Greig was born about 1712 and studied at King's College, Aberdeen. He became Incumbent of the Episcopal chapel at Sonehaven in 1745. He became Dean of Brechin in 1778 and died in 1793.