David Edward Easson (1897–1957)
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…
Tag: ministers
From Matriculation to the Ministry: The research students of St Mary’s College, 1920–1923
In the early-twentieth century, an undergraduate degree was the prerequisite for those seeking ministerial careers in the Church of Scotland. So, when four postgraduate research students matriculated at St Mary’s…
Presbyterian Ministers and War: David Dick and Alek Sawyer
David Dick (1896-1984) and Alek Sawyer (1903-1973) grew up in early 20th century Scotland, and both became ministers in the 1920s. The age gap between them was just enough that one served in the Great War, while the…
Alek Sawyer (1903–1973), MA, BD
Alek William Sawyer [1921-UC1-065] was born on 18 February 1903 at Newmilns, Ayshire, to Fredrick Henry Sawyer, the first Professor of Music at St Andrews, and Sarah Worsnop. He later moved to Belfast, where he was…
David Dick (1896–1984), MA, BD
David Dick [1921-SM1-002] was born on 8 August 1896 to John Dick and Thomasina Smith in Cellardyke, Fife, and was schooled at Waid Academy in nearby Anstruther. He matriculated at the United College in the University…
Career pathways of Classics Graduates around 1900
Today, the humanities – including subjects like Classics – are sometimes criticised for their apparently low employability prospects. Yet the career pathways of Classics graduates at the start of the twentieth century…
Calling all Chemists: St Andrews and the Great War
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…
St Andrews and a Dutch Reformer: The Story of Johan Gerard Ubbink (1875–1944)
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…
The Prisoner of War Who Kept His Word: the Revd Alexander Anderson (1876–1933)
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.
The Untold Story of an International Minister’s Wife: Helen Ross (née Cairns) (1883–1969)
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…