Talk:Rector of the University of Aberdeen

Various issues

 * 1) The big problem - there doesn't seem to be a list so unlike the other four lists of rectors this is in a poor state.
 * 2) Prior to 1860 it seems that the term "University of Aberdeen" could apply to either of King's College or Marischal College, and this is reflected in sources like the DNB which don't specify the institution.
 * 3) Was the 1996 election as unique as the student newspaper suggested? A lot of student media has a very short term memory and I'd be surprised if no recent or current student had stood before (especially given that the option was exploited in the 1970s at Edinburgh with Gordon Brown).
 * 4) Some of the sources on the web are just repeating the same confusions - e.g. until today the article George Goschen, 1st Viscount Goschen claimed he was elected in 1874 and again in the 1880s, and umpteen sites on the web just copy the text - but there's no gap in the 1870s (or found in The Times digital online archive).
 * 5) Also it's not always clear if the dates refer to the election or the installation and some rectors were elected in the late autumn term but not installed until early in the new (calendar) year. Timrollpickering 19:57, 9 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Hi Tim. Regarding issue 3: as somebody who was there at the count I can say that it was my understanding that all the staff believed it was a first, and an interesting precedent. Unfortunately, that's obviously a primary source (me!) so can't be used as a reference to back up the brief mention of the matter which appeared in Gaudie at the time. As for the other points you raise, I think getting hold of a detailed list (or two, one for each College) will more than likely require somebody to actually visit and look up records. I'm happy to do that one of these days, but can't say when I'll get a chance. – Kieran T  (' talk ') 20:19, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

1881-1890
Alexander Bain has been added for 1890. Whilst he does appear to have been elected twice - the Oxford DNB says "After retiring from his chair at Aberdeen in 1880 Bain remained active and was twice elected lord rector of the university, defeating Lord Randolph Churchill on the second occasion" - I think these were consecutive. The Times obituary for Charles Gordon, 11th Marquess of Huntly notes that he was elected three times - 1890, 1893 & 1896. Also Lord Randolph Churchill is more likely to have been a candidate in 1884, when he was at the height of his powers, than 1890, when he was a political hasbeen (note that other politicians on the list from around this period like Russell, Rosebery, Goschen, Ritchie and Asquith were all either men on the rise or at the height of their career when elected; it's not until Grimond that an elder statesman appears). My guess is that it would seem more likely that the sequence runs:


 * 1881 - 1887 - Bain
 * 1887 - 1890 - Goschen (the only source I have is a letter from him to the Times published in 1888 in which he mentions the post)
 * 1890 - 1899 Huntly

But it's stepping into OR to marry up this sequence as it's not clear if any of the rectors we have sourced retired early.

So is the concise DNB wrong, the Times obituary wrong or what? Timrollpickering 20:51, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

First three entries — no college attributed
One of these — John Arbuthnott, 8th Viscount of Arbuthnott — is said by his own article to have been Rector of King's, specifically, although the claim doesn't come with a direct citation in that article.

I think that if we're left with two or three unassigned Rectors we should explain in the sub-section that the available sources don't specify the College, rather than leave it ambiguous and potentially appearing that these people were Rector of both Colleges. – Kieran T  (' talk ') 22:07, 9 September 2007 (UTC)


 * I've found a citation for Arbuthnott and added it. As for the other two I agree - any ideas on wording? Timrollpickering 23:07, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

George Adam Smith
After a look at the DNB and Googling my own conclusion is that he wasn't rector. Smith was Principal 1909-1935 and it would be strange if he held both posts simultaneously. True there are some other potential gaps in his lifetime but most of these appear to be covered (1881-1890, 1899-1902) and it would be odd for him to have had a shortened tenure in the margins of one of these.

The only source on line is this Time article about a meeting with President Coolidge in 1924. My guess is that the writer is using "rector" in the US sense to mean "Principal" - not only is it doubtful Smith would have held both simultaneously but also there's no gap in this period. So I'm removing Smith from the list. Timrollpickering 19:51, 12 September 2007 (UTC)

Sir William Fordyce
The list gives Sir William Fordyce as rector from 1790 to 1794, but his Wikipedia article and his Wikidata give his date of death as 4 December 1792. This suggests one of the foollowing:

Watty62 (talk) 19:36, 19 March 2023 (UTC)
 * a gap,
 * or a missing rector,
 * or that his successor, James Ferguson MP may have assumed office before 1794


 * I've discovered in the British Newspaper Archive, in the Scots Magazine of March 1792 confirmation that William Forbes was elected rector of Marischal on 8 March 1792. Watty62 (talk) 08:40, 20 March 2023 (UTC)