James Halliday (27 February 1927 – 3 January 2013) was a Scottish

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He was the chairman (leader) of the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

(SNP) from 1956 to 1960.

Early life

Halliday was born in Woodburn Cottage,

Wemyss Bay Wemyss Bay (; ) is a town on the coast of the Firth of Clyde in Inverclyde in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is in the traditional county of Renfrewshire. It is adjacent to Skelmorlie, North Ayrshire. The town and villages have alway ...

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfr ...

, the son of James Wightman Halliday, an estate gardener. Halliday was educated at Skelmorlie Primary School and

Greenock Academy The Greenock Academy was a mixed non-denominational school in the west end of Greenock, Scotland, founded in 1855, originally independent, later a grammar school with a primary department, and finally a Comprehensive school only for ages eleven t ...

. He joined the SNP in 1943, aged 16, and also registered for military service in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Halliday began studying at 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 , ...

in 1944, joining the

Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association The Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association (GUSNA) is a student organisation formed in 1927 at the University of Glasgow which supports Scottish independence. History GUSNA is important historically as it predated many pro-independ ...

and playing an active part in

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

debates. Then

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

of the spine left him unable to stand until 1947, and it was 1952 before he graduated.

Educator

He worked teaching history at Coatbridge High School,

Uddingston Grammar School Uddingston Grammar School is a mainstream state school, The school is located in Uddingston, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is one of 17 secondary schools operated by South Lanarkshire Council. Its motto is 'Virtute Crescam' which means 'May I ...

and

Dunfermline High School Dunfermline High School is one of four main high schools located in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. The school also caters for pupils from Kincardine, Rosyth and surrounding villages. The school was founded in 1468. Today it has over 1,550 pupils. ...

. From 1967 to 1988 he taught at the Dundee College of Education, initially joining as a lecturer in history before becoming principal lecturer of history and head of department in 1979. He specialised in

modern history The term modern period or modern era (sometimes also called modern history or modern times) is the period of history that succeeds the Middle Ages (which ended approximately 1500 AD). This terminology is a historical periodization that is applie ...

and had a particular interest in the history, politics and constitution of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Political office

In 1956, Halliday was elected leader of the SNP when Robert McIntyre decided to step down due to his belief that there was some opposition to him remaining leader amongst the party ranks. Although aged only 28, Halliday seemed the natural replacement as he had been the SNP parliamentary candidate for Stirling and Falkirk Burghs at the 1955 general election, and the only other SNP candidate besides McIntyre. Halliday contested the Stirling and Falkirk Burghs seat again at the

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

general election and West Fife in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

. Halliday led the SNP for four years but felt he had to resign due to the pressures of working life. Halliday remained active in the SNP, and was a regular columnist for the

Scots Independent ''The Scots Independent'' is a monthly Scottish political newspaper that is in favour of Scottish independence. It was formed in 1926 with William Gillies as editor, by the Scots National League (SNL) and switched its allegiance to the Nationa ...

newspaper and chairman of the company which publishes it.

Personal life

In 1955 he married Olive Campbell and they had two sons.

Published works

Source: Source: * ''America (World in Transformation)'' (1970) * ''Scotland: A Concise History'' (1990) * ''1820 Rising: The

Radical War The Radical War, also known as the Scottish Insurrection of 1820, was a week of strikes and unrest in Scotland, a culmination of Radical demands for reform in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland which had become prominent in the earl ...

'' (1993) * ''Yours for Scotland - a Memoir'' (2011)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halliday, James 1927 births 2013 deaths Leaders of the Scottish National Party Alumni of the University of Glasgow People from Inverclyde 20th-century Scottish historians Scottish schoolteachers People associated with Dundee Scottish National Party parliamentary candidates