From 1905, would-be teachers in Scotland were trained under the auspices of the Provincial Committees for the Training of Teachers. In this article, I explore St Andrews’ role in teacher-training, through a study of…
On the 22nd April 1915, chlorine gas was first released in a small village in Belgium. Its impact would be felt in St Andrews, where its use would change the trajectory of countless lives, including those of Walter…
Edmund Langley Hirst arrived at St Andrews with ambitions of a degree in Classics. His experience in St Andrews’ chemistry laboratories during the First World War would shape his life as a scientific pioneer. There,…
The story of Maud Baden-Powell remains shrouded in the shadow of the mighty legacies of her family members and the “Baden-Powell” name. However, her life can be uncovered through the stories of those she was closest…
For Johan Gerard Ubbink, his year at University of St Andrews was more than a study abroad—it was a turning point that connected Dutch Reformed theology with wider international debates and set the stage for his later…
Minister Alexander Anderson, was celebrated as a hero by his community in Scotland when he was detained in Germany during the Great War… until he returned home and was labeled a traitor.
Helen Ross spent her adult life moving across the world as a minister’s wife, mother, teacher, and role model within her community. Like many women of her time, the work that defined her life was unpaid and largely…
These images were produced by our VIP team in spring 2026, to illustrate the challenges, fun and serendipity of trying to track down historic students at St Andrews. They give a good sense of the sorts of sources we…
Catherine Brown (1902-UC1-010) was born in 1883 on Market Street in St Andrews, to William Grant Methven Brown and Mary Brown. She was the eldest of ten children; her siblings were: Francis, Hannah, Charlotte, Agnes,…