Anthony Traill (1 November 1838 – 15 October 1914) was an Irish academic who served as the 33rd

Provost of Trinity College Dublin The following persons have been provost of Trinity College Dublin. References {{University of Dublin, Trinity College Trinity College, Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity o ...

from 1904 to 1914. Traill was born

Ballylough Ballylough (Baile-an-locha; "the townland of the lake") is a small village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies roughly north of Newcastle and just east of Castlewellan and northeast of Annsborough. It is situated beside Ball ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

, in 1838. He matriculated at

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

, where he was elected a Scholar in 1858. He became a fellow in 1865, and while at college he accumulated degrees in engineering, law, and medicine. Although he was most famous for the position he would acquire later in life, Traill was actively involved in politics during the 1870s and 1880s. He was an

Ulster Unionist The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded as the Ulster Unionist Council in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist oppositi ...

, and sided with the landlords during the debate over land tenure reform. In 1884, he was appointed

High Sheriff of Antrim The High Sheriff of Antrim is the Sovereign's judicial representative in County Antrim. Initially an office for lifetime, assigned by the Sovereign, the high sheriff became annually appointed from the Provisions of Oxford in 1258. Besides his judi ...

. He also became the chairman of the world's first electric tramway,

Portrush Portrush () is a small seaside resort town on the north coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It neighbours the resort of Portstewart in County Londonderry. The main part of the old town, including the Portrush railway station, railway stati ...

, founded with his brother

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

. The Portrush electric tramway ran from Portrush to Bushmills from its inception in 1883 (with Traill as chairman) until 1947. In April 1901, he was appointed Commissioner of National Education in Ireland. In 1904, Traill was appointed

Provost Provost may refer to: Officials Ecclesiastic * Provost (religion), a high-ranking church official * Prince-provost, a high-ranking church official Government * Provost (civil), an officer of local government, including the equivalent ...

. During his hold of the office, he carried out many internal reforms. Traill refused to change the University's constitutional position at any time in his Provostship despite pressure. He remained the Provost until he died, at the Provost's House, in 1914.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Traill, Anthony 1838 births 1914 deaths Fellows of Trinity College Dublin High sheriffs of Antrim Scholars and academics from County Antrim Provosts of Trinity College Dublin Scholars of Trinity College Dublin