Alexander Berry (1781-1873)
Alexander Berry (1781-1873) was born on 30 November 1781, to a Cupar farming family. He attended Cupar Grammar School, then studied at the University of St Andrews from 1796-1798, followed by a year studying medicine…
Tag: 1800-1850
The colonial ambitions of Principal George Hill, by Maia Sheridan
By all accounts, George Hill (1750-1819), principal of St Mary’s College in the University of St Andrews, and Church of Scotland minister, was affable, intelligent and eloquent. He is remembered as an influential…
Margaret Tyndall Bruce (c.1780-1869) of Falkland and India, by Sarah Leith
In March 1828, Susan Elizabeth Low, of Clatto House, near Blebo Craigs, Fife, wrote to her son, Peter Low, with news about a recent marriage in the county: Our great Fife heiress, Miss Bruce of Falkland, is married to…
International businessmen: the firm of Chalmers & Guthrie (1788-1897), by Matthew Ylitalo
The story behind the Guthrie Scholarship and Cheape Bursaries at the University of St Andrews is one of interconnected influential families, immense business wealth, and exploitative imperial labour systems. In 1865,…
Student attitudes to slavery and empire in the mid-19th century, by Rachel Hart
What did the students at St Andrews in the nineteenth century think about slavery, colonialism and empire? Unless they wrote or spoke publicly about it, it’s difficult to say… The archives of the University tend to be…
John Gray (1724-1811): alumnus, donor and abolitionist? By Sarah Rodriguez
John Gray was unusual for being one of the very few repeat donors to the University, funding a university prize, bursary and Chair between 1794 and his death in 1811. While scholars have taken an interest in Gray for…
Madras College, St Andrews
By a deed dated 14 July 1831, Andrew Bell left in trust funds and estates for educational purposes. This amounted to around £120,000, of which £50,000 was to be directed to the founding of Madras College. The secondary…
Andrew Bell (1753-1832): Virginia, Madras and St Andrews, by Sarah Leith
A donor to the University of St Andrews, alumnus Andrew Bell’s life began in the ‘Auld Grey Toon’, and he travelled around the world, from North America to India, being shipwrecked along the way. His employment as a…
Stuart Bursary
The ‘Stuart Bursary’ was one of several bursaries founded at the Scottish universities by the will of James Stuart (1743-1809). St Andrews received £1,000 in the form of perpetual government consols or ‘war bonds’, and…
James Stuart (1743-1809)
Born near Banff, James Stuart (1743-1809) went to South Carolina in 1766 as a missionary with the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, attempting to bring Christianity to enslaved Africans. He…