David Allison (July 3, 1836 – February 13, 1924) was a Canadian professor, administrator and author. He was president both of Mount Allison College and later of

Mount Allison University Mount Allison University (also Mount A or MtA) is a Canadian primarily undergraduate liberal arts university located in Sackville, New Brunswick, founded in 1839. Like other liberal arts colleges in North America, Mount Allison does not parti ...

from 1869 to 1878 and from 1891 to 1911, respectively. He was born in

Newport, Nova Scotia Brooklyn is a Canadian rural community located in western Hants County, Nova Scotia with a population of 916 people in 201 The community was Nelegakumik by the Mi'kmaq people, Mi'kmaq Nation (meaning "broken snowshoes"). Brooklyn is unusual in ...

, the son of

James Whidden Allison James Whidden Allison (December 1, 1795 – March 19, 1867) was a farmer and political figure in Nova Scotia. He represented Newport township in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1836 to 1840. He was born in Horton, Kings County, Nova Sc ...

and Margaret Elder. He was educated at the Dalhousie Collegiate School (later

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...

), at the Wesleyan Academy in

Sackville, New Brunswick Sackville is a town in southeastern New Brunswick, Canada. It is home to Mount Allison University, a primarily undergraduate liberal arts university. Historically based on agriculture, shipbuilding, and manufacturing, the economy is now driven ...

, founded by

Charles Frederick Allison Charles Frederick Allison (January 25, 1795 – November 20, 1858) was a Canadian merchant, philanthropist, and the founder of Mount Allison University. Background Allison's grandfather Joseph had emigrated from Ireland to Canada in the late ...

, and at

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, from which he received a B.A. in 1859 and an M.A. three years later. Allison married Elizabeth Powell in 1862; she died in 1898. Also in 1862, he became a professor of classics at Mount Allison College. He succeeded Humphrey Pickard as president of the college in 1869. In 1877, Allison was named superintendent of education for

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. He married Ellen Elizabeth Cummins in 1902. Allison developed an English grammar for use in Nova Scotia schools and also wrote a three volume ''History of Nova Scotia'' which was published in 1916. He returned to Mount Allison University in 1891 for his second term as president. He died in Halifax at the age of 87. His brother William Henry served as a member of the Canadian House of Commons.

References

*
''The Canadian portrait gallery''
John Charles Dent (1881)

External links

* Allison,
''History of Nova Scotia, Vol. 1'' (1916)
* Allison,
''History of Nova Scotia, Vol. 2'' (1916)
* Allison, D & Tuck, C
''History of Nova Scotia, Vol. 3'' (1916)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allison, David 1836 births 1924 deaths 19th-century Methodists Historians from Nova Scotia 20th-century Canadian historians Canadian Methodists Canadian university and college chief executives Academic staff of Mount Allison University People from Hants County, Nova Scotia People from Sackville, New Brunswick Wesleyan University alumni Dalhousie University alumni Canadian expatriates in the United States Historians of Canada