Cook Testimonial Prize
The Cook Testimonial Prize was founded in 1847 from a public subscription in memory of St Andrews professor George Cook (1773-1845). Cook had been professor of Moral Philosophy, but was also an ecclesiastical…
Tag: 1800-1850
Friends of George Cook, including Duncan Macfarlan
In 1847, Duncan Macfarlan organised a subscription to raise funds for a Cook Testimonial Prize ‘to commemorate the eminent services rendered to the Church of Scotland’ by Professor George Cook (1773-1845), of the…
Dundonald Bursaries
The Dundonald Bursaries were established in 1673 by the 1st earl of Dundonald (1605-1685), who mortified land to provide bursaries to support seven students (four in ‘philosophy’- [i.e. the Faculty of Arts] and three…
William Hamilton (d.1822)
William Hamilton (d.1822) was the son of an Ayrshire ‘writer’ [i.e. solicitor], William Hamilton of Mauchline. The son also went into the law, and was admitted as a writer to the signet [a more senior solicitor] in…
Politics, Patronage and Personal Ties: Henry Dundas (1742-1811) and St Andrews, by Aileen Fyfe
Henry Dundas was Chancellor of the University of St Andrews from 1788 to 1811. His role in the abolition (and/or the delay of the abolition) of the slave trade has attracted a lot of public attention recently –…
James Playfair (1736-1819)
James Playfair (1736-1819) was principal of the United College at St Andrews from 1800 to 1819. The son of a Perthshire farmer, he had been educated at St Andrews in the 1750s, and licensed as a minister in 1770. In…
James Rorie (d. before 1819)
James Rorie was apparently a servant to James Playfair (1736-1819), Principal of United College. Rorie appears to have predeceased Playfair, and had left instruction and ‘a small sum’ to found a bursary. In Playfair’s…
Rorie Bursary
The Rorie Bursary was established in 1819, in memory of James Rorie (dates unknown) who had been a servant to James Playfair (1736-1819), Principal of United College. Rorie had apparently left instruction and ‘a small…
Reflecting on the Berry Bequest (1889), by Tom Jones and Emma Sutton
At his death in 1889, David Berry left £100,000 to the University of St Andrews. At the time, it was by far the largest donation the University had ever received, and it helped the University out of very significant…
David Berry (1795–1889)
David Berry (1795–1889) came from a Cupar farming family, and became Australia’s first millionaire. In 1836, he (and two other brothers and two sisters) emigrated to join their older brother Alexander in New South…