Thomas Liddell (October 18, 1800 – June 11, 1880) was the first Principal of Queen's University, then Queen's College.

Life

Liddell was born in

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling ( ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling.Registers of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. It borders Perthshir ...

, Scotland in 1800, the son of John Liddell and his wife Janet Martin. He studied 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 ...

and the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

. He moved from Montrose Chapel of Ease to Lady Glenorchy's Church in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in December 1831. He worked alongside the elderly Rev

Thomas Snell Jones Thomas Snell Jones (1754–1837) was a senior English-born Presbyterian minister operational in Scotland outside the Church of Scotland. Life He was born in Gloucester on 11 May 1754. He was orphaned at an early age and cared for by a Wesley ...

.''Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae''; by Hew Scott His senior, James Bonar WS, was at this time organising the physical relocation of the church due to the known coming of Waverley Railway Station. The University of Edinburgh awarded him an honorary Doctorate of Divinity in 1841. In 1841, he left Edinburgh for

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 ...

where he was appointed the first Principal of Queen's College, Kingston. Here he worked with only one other member of staff, Peter Colin Campbell. Due to issues arising from the

Disruption of 1843 The Disruption of 1843, also known as the Great Disruption, was a schism in 1843 in which 450 evangelical ministers broke away from the Church of Scotland to form the Free Church of Scotland. The main conflict was over whether the Church of Sc ...

in Scotland, funding dried up. Liddell resigned in 1846 and returned to Scotland. He was minister of

Lochmaben Lochmaben () is a small town and civil parish in Scotland, and site of a castle. It lies west of Lockerbie, in Dumfries and Galloway. By the 12th century the Bruce family had become the local landowners and, in the 14th century, Edward I of Engl ...

in Dumfries and Galloway from 1850 to 1880. He died in

on 11 June 1880.

Family

He was married to Susan Ann Jane Stewart, with whom he had two daughters.

Recognition

A street in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

is named for him.

References

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
1800 births 1880 deaths 19th-century ministers of the Church of Scotland 19th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers Principals of Queen's University at Kingston {{Canada-academic-bio-stub