All those who studied at St Andrews from 1579 to 1897 have an entry in the Biographical Register of the University of St Andrews, which is available in print or searchable online.
Our VIP teams have been transcribing the records of students since 1898, and researching their lives. They will eventually form part of a revised/expanded edition of the Biographical Register, but until that moment, we share some of them here.
Mary Tennyson Winckley was born in 1894. Her parents were Sidney Thorold Winckley (b.1858, an Anglican clergyman) and Elizabeth Sara Lucy Freer (b.1863), who had married in 1888. By age seven, Mary would likely go to…
William Maddin Scott was nineteen when he matriculated to the University of St Andrews in 1913, meaning he was likely born around 1894. At present, not too much is known about his life before university. His family…
Helen Simpson Gilchrist was born in 1896 in Largo, Fifeshire. Her father, James Gilchrist, was a stone and brick builder. Her mother was Elizabeth Gillis. During her time at St. Andrews, Gilchrist benefitted from the…
Helen Stiven Ross was born 17 March 1895 in Brechin in Angus, Scotland. Her family claimed a link to Robert Burns in a 1960 article, tracing Helen’s brother as a great-great-great-great-great grandson of Robert Burns’…
When the University of St Andrews introduced the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1920, it was one of the first universities in the United Kingdom to offer the qualification. But how far did the degree further the…
David Edward Easson was born in 1897 in Wormit, Fife. His father, also David Edward Easson owned a drapery business in Wellgate, and was a city missionary in Dundee. He and his brother, John, attended Wormit Public…
Thomas Graham Mackenzie was born in Kirkden on 22 January 1896 to his parents Donald and Isabella Mackenzie, and Grandfather Thomas Graham who was a farmer in Whinfield, St. Boswells. He was the second son. The family…
Robert Wilson Bisset was born on 4 March 1895 in Pittenweem to his parents Mr and Mrs Alexander Bisset from Kilrenny, Anstruther. Robert attended school in Anstruther, where he is recorded as having received nomination…
Keith Dix Lewis Macfarlane was born on 19 November 1895 in Hornsey, Middlesex to his parents George Hall Macfarlane (who was born in 1859 in Islington, and worked in a wholesale warehouse), and Emily Clara Macfarlane…
John Gentleman Montgomery was born in 1895 or 1896 in Falkirk, Scotland. When he matriculated at United College for two semesters in 1914, he listed St Andrews as his address. He was studying agriculture. John left St…