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 1640-1645 - Alexander Henderson 1645-1648 - 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, Peter Robertson, was unclear whether he was the Rector or not.

Formally re-constituted

Along with the Chancellor 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. W.E.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 1951 - Sir Alexander Fleming 1954 - Sir Sydney A. Smith 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 - D.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