Peter Colin Campbell (1810–1876) was a Scottish clergyman in the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

who became the first professor at

Queen's University, Canada Queen's University at Kingston, commonly known as Queen's University or simply Queen's, is a public research university in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Queen's holds more than of land throughout Ontario and owns Herstmonceux Castle in East Susse ...

and was later the first

Principal of the University of Aberdeen The Principal of the University of Aberdeen is the working administrative head of the university, acting as its chief executive. He is responsible for the overall running of the university, presiding over the main academic body of the university, t ...

, a role he held for 21 years.

Life

He was born on 21 January 1810 in the manse of

Ardchattan Ardchattan and Muckairn is a civil parish within Argyll and Bute in Scotland. It lies north of Oban, bordering Loch Etive and includes Glen Ure, Glen Creran, Barcaldine, Benderloch, Connel, Bonawe and Glen Etive. At the 2001 census, Ardch ...

Argyleshire Argyll (; archaically Argyle; , ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. The county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975 and most of the area now forms part of ...

, the son of Rev George Campbell, the parish minister. He was educated at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, graduating with an MA in 1829.''Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae''; vol. 7; by Hew Scott In 1835 he was licensed to preach as a

minister by the Presbytery of

Inverary Inveraray ( or ; meaning "mouth of the Aray") is a town in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. Located on the western shore of Loch Fyne, near its head, Inveraray is a former royal burgh and known affectionately as "The Capital of Argyll." It is the ...

, and sent to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

as minister of St John's Presbyterian Church in

Brockville Brockville is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Although it is the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, it is politically Independent city, independent of the county. It is included with Leeds and ...

. He was one of the 26 co-founders of Queen's University. In 1840 he was officially appointed as its first professor, in the role of Professor of Classics (Latin and Greek) at Queen's University, but not until 1842 did he begin lecturing (alongside Thomas Liddell as Principal). He left Queen's in 1844 and returned to Scotland, where he got an appointment as the parish minister of the small

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

village of Caputh in September 1845. He remained in this role until December 1854, when he took the prestigious position as Professor of Greek at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

, later rising to be Principal of the University. He lived at 32 College Bounds in

Old Aberdeen Old Aberdeen is part of Aberdeen in Scotland. Old Aberdeen was originally a separate burgh, which was erected into a burgh of barony on 26 December 1489. It was incorporated into adjacent Aberdeen by Act of Parliament in 1891. It retains the sta ...

. He died on 12 December 1876 and is buried in Old Machar Churchyard in

Family

In January 1838 he married Jessie Wylie (1812-1892) daughter of the Hon. James Wylie of Burnside in West Canada. They had six daughters and six sons.''Account of the Clan Iver'', P. C. Campbell, Aberdeen, 1873, p. 80

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Peter Colin 1810 births 1876 deaths Clergy from Argyll and Bute Academics of the University of Aberdeen Principals of the University of Aberdeen Alumni of the University of Edinburgh