Rector (office of)

The original office of Rector dates from 1585 when Robert Rollock was given the title of "Principal and Rector". He was succeeded in this role by Henry Charteris. The appointment of Andrew Ramsay as Rector in 1620, distinct from Principal, saw the two roles separated.

• 1620-1626 - Andrew Ramsay
• 1627-1631 - Sir Alexander Morison
• 1631-1640 - Vacant
• 1640-1646 - Alexander Henderson
• 1646-1648 - Andrew Ramsay
• 1649-1665 - Robert Douglas

The Rector in this period was the Town Council's Supervisor, leaving discipline, moral/religious control and college administration with the Principal.

In 1665 the Town Council of Edinburgh resolved that the role of Rector should rest thereafter with the Lord Provost of Edinburgh in an ex officio capacity but in real terms had little or no involvement. By 1838 the then Lord Provost, Sir James Forrest of Comiston, was unclear whether he was the Rector or not.

Formally re-constituted

Along with the Chancellor (office of) and Vice-Chancellor, he current office of Rector was formally constituted following the Universities (Scotland) Act 1858 and is elected by the staff and matriculated students.

Since then, the office has been held by:

• 1859 - Rt. Hon. William Ewart Gladstone
• 1865 - Thomas Carlyle
• 1868 - Lord Moncreiff
• 1871 - Sir W. Stirling Maxwell, Bart.,
• 1874 - Earl of Derby
• 1877 - The Marquis of Hartington
• 1880 - Earl of Roseberry
• 1883 - Earl of Iddesleigh
• 1887 - The Marquess of Lothian
• 1890 - Rt. Hon. George Joachim Goschen
• 1893 - Rt. Hon. J.P.B. Robertson
• 1896 - Lord Balfour of Burleigh
• 1899 - The Marquess of Dufferin and Ava
• 1902 - Sir Robert Bannatyne Finlay
• 1905 - Rt. Hon. Richard Burdon Haldane
• 1908 - Rt. Hon. Geo.Wyndham
• 1911 - The Earl of Minto
• 1914 - Earl Kitchener of Khartoum
• 1917 - Earl Beatty
• 1920 - Rt. Hon. David Lloyd George
• 1923 - Rt. Hon. Stanley Baldwin
• 1926 - Rt. Hon. Sir John Gilmour
• 1929 - Rt. Hon. Winston Churchill
• 1932 - General Sir Ian Hamilton
• 1935 - Viscount Allenby
• 1936 - Sir Herbert John Clifford Grierson
• 1939 - Sir J. Donald Pollock, Bt.,
• 1945 - Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope
• 1948 - Alastair Sim (1900-1976)
• 1951 - Sir Alexander Fleming
• 1954 - Sir Sydney Alfred Smith (1883-1969)
• 1957 - James Robertson Justice
• 1960 - Joseph Grimond
• 1963 - James Roberston Justice Dr.Phil., LL.D.,
• 1966 - Malcolm Muggeridge MA
• 1969 - Kenneth Allsop
• 1972 - Jonathon W.G. Wills MA
• 1973 - Gordon Brown MA
• 1976 - Magnus Magnusson MA
• 1979 - Very Rev. Anthony Ross OP., STL., FSA(Scot)
• 1982 - Rt.Hon. David Steel PC., MA., LL.B.,
• 1985 - Archie MacPherson BA
• 1988 - Muriel Gray BA
• 1991 - Donnie Munro DA
• 1994 - Malcolm Macleod B.Sc., MB., CH.B., MRCP
• 1997 - John Colqhoun, footballer, Heart of Midlothian
• 2000 - Robin Harper MSP
• 2003 - Tam Dalyell MP