James Cameron Todd (October 13, 1863 - 1915) was a British

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

and schoolmaster, who founded

Michaelhouse Michaelhouse is a full boarding senior school for boys founded in 1896. It is located in the Balgowan valley in the Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. History ''St. Michael's Diocesan College'' was founded in Pietermaritzburg in 18 ...

school in South Africa.

Early life

He was born in

Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

to a father of the same name. His schooling took place at the

Royal High School (Edinburgh) The Royal High School (RHS) of Edinburgh is a co-educational school administered by the City of Edinburgh Council. The school was founded in 1128 and is one of the oldest schools in Scotland. It serves 1,200 pupils drawn from four feeder primar ...

from 1874 to 1881. He attended the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

from 1881 to 1884 where he graduated with a B.Sc. degree, having been a pupil of

Lord Kelvin William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, (26 June 182417 December 1907) was a British mathematician, Mathematical physics, mathematical physicist and engineer born in Belfast. Professor of Natural Philosophy (Glasgow), Professor of Natural Philoso ...

. His sister was Margaret Georgina Todd, a doctor and writer who was one of the first students to attend the Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women.

Clergyman

He moved to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, and in 1887 he was made

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

by the Rt Revd

George Knight-Bruce George Wyndham Hamilton Knight-Bruce was an Anglican bishop serving in Southern Africa, first as bishop of Bloemfontein and then as the inaugural bishop of Mashonaland, in the late nineteenth century. Knight-Bruce was born in 1853 and, having ...

Bishop of Bloemfontein The Diocese of the Free State is a diocese in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. History The first service North of the Orange River to be taken by an Anglican clergyman was conducted in 1850 by † Robert Gray, the first Bishop of Cape Town ...

. He was curate of Vryburg, Bechuanaland in 1887 and curate of Kimberley, Griqualand from 1887 to 1888. In 1888, he was admitted to

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...

, having obtained a scholarship. He pursued an M.Sc. degree which he gained with first class honours, resulting in his election as Scholar of the College the following year. In 1890, he was ordained priest in

St. Paul’s Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London ...

and took up the post of curate at St John’s Hammersmith in 1891. He moved to Natal 1894 as chaplain to the Rt Revd

Arthur Hamilton Baynes Arthur Hamilton Baynes (23 March 1854 – 30 June 1942) was a Church of England priest and Bishop of Natal and Maritzburg from 1893 to 1901. He was born in Lewisham, Kent, the son of Joseph Ash Baynes and Mary Elizabeth Beard, and followi ...

Bishop of Natal The Diocese of Natal is in the region of Natal, South Africa, the diocese has its northern boundary at the Tugela River. The episcopal leader of the diocese is the bishop of Natal. History The history of the Diocese in the Colony of Nata ...

and became Diocesan Theological Tutor (1894-1899), and was appointed Canon of Natal (1894-1904).

School master

In 1896 he founded

in Loop Street,

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; Zulu: umGungundlovu) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its Zulu name umGungundlovu ...

. When he opened the doors on the first day in August 1896, it was as a private venture with 15 founding boys. Ten of these were boarders, and five were day boys. It is said that without Todd, Michaelhouse would never have been born. While the school was in Pietermaritzburg, Todd worked to establish the school as the Diocesan College of Natal with its own Board of Governors. He also looked for a suitable country site to relocate the school away from the distractions of town. In 1901, the school moved to its current premises in Balgowan. In 1903, Todd resigned as rector. He had ordered a piano without the approval of the board and as this was a substantial expenditure which required the board's approval a dispute ensued which culminated in Todd's decision to leave Michaelhouse.

Life in England

Todd returned to England 1904. In London, he became engaged in literary and educational work. He wrote a number of books including and . Although he held no ecclesiastical position, he was in great demand as a preacher among the famous London Churches, preaching at both

St James's Church, Piccadilly St James's Church, Piccadilly, also known as St James's Church, Westminster, and St James-in-the-Fields, is an Anglican church on Piccadilly in the centre of London, United Kingdom. The church was designed and built by Sir Christopher Wren. T ...

and the

Temple Church The Temple Church is a Royal peculiar church in the City of London located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built by the Knights Templar as their English headquarters. It was consecrated on 10 February 1185 by Patriarch Heraclius of J ...

. He was sympathetic to the cause of the

Suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

s, despite opposition from the Church. At St. George's Church, Bloomsbury, he gave a memorable sermon at the funeral of

Emily Davison Emily Wilding Davison (11 October 1872 – 8 June 1913) was an English suffragette who fought for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, votes for women in Britain in the early twentieth century. A member of the Women's Social and Polit ...

. He was owner and headmaster of Netherfields School at

Crouch End Crouch End is an area of North London, approximately from the City of London in the western half of the borough of Haringey. It is within the Hornsey postal district (N8). It has been described by the BBC as one of "a new breed of urban villag ...

London, where he met his future wife, a staff member. In 1911, he sold the school and went to Canada where he married Aileen Mary Gallaher in Montreal. On their return to England, the couple started a preparatory school (Kelvin House, named after Lord Kelvin) in

Ruislip Ruislip ( ) is an area in the London Borough of Hillingdon in West London, and in the historic county of Middlesex. Ruislip lies west-north-west of Charing Cross, London. The manor of Ruislip appears in the Domesday Book, and some of the ear ...

, London. In 1912, his first daughter Jean was born, followed in 1914 by Margaret. Todd died in 1915, at the age of 51, and is buried at St Martin's Church, Ruislip.

Notes

References

* * Barrett Letters. Michaelhouse Archives. Balgowan. * S. Michael's Chronicle, (1983). Pietermaritzburg: Natal Witness. * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Todd, James Cameron 1863 births 1915 deaths 20th-century South African Anglican priests