William Jack (1768–1854) was a

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

academic who served as Principal of

King's College, Aberdeen King's College in Old Aberdeen, Scotland, the full title of which is The University and King's College of Aberdeen (''Collegium Regium Abredonense''), is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and now an integral part of the Universi ...

and formed part of the committee that created the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

by merging Aberdeen's two colleges, King's College and

Marischal College Marischal College ( ) is a large granite building on Broad Street in the centre of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland, and since 2011 has acted as the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council. However, the building was constructed for and is on long- ...

Life

Jack was born on 12 May 1768, the son of William Jack, minister of

Northmavine Northmavine or Northmaven ( non, Norðan Mæfeið, meaning ‘the land north of the Mavis Grind’) is a peninsula in northwest Mainland Shetland in Scotland. The peninsula has historically formed the civil parish Northmavine. The modern Northmavi ...

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

, by his wife Margaret Bruce. He was educated at

, graduating MA in 1785. He then spent some years at

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1582 ...

studying Medicine and graduating MD, afterwards returning to King's College in 1788. He was appointed a "regent" (Fellow) in 1794. He became Sub-Principal in 1800 and Principal in 1815 in place of Roderick MacLeod. He died on 9 February 1854 and is buried in a niche of the outer eastern enclosure at St Machar's Cathedral in north Aberdeen. Due to the impending merge his post as Principal was not filled. Although Jack did not live to see the merge, he was part of the committee set up to combine King's College with

to create the single entity of

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

in 1860.

Family

In April 1794 he was married to Grace Bolt (1773–1850), daughter of the merchant Andrew Bolt of

Lerwick Lerwick (; non, Leirvik; nrn, Larvik) is the main town and port of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland. Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick had a population of about 7,000 residents in 2010. Centred off the north coast of the Scottish mainland ...

.Fasti Ecclesiastae Scoticana vol.7 by Hew Scott Jack had at least ten children, and several died in tragic circumstances: * William Jack (1795–1822), botanist, died in Sumatra *Charles Jack (born 1797) *Eliza Jane (Jean) Jack (born 1799), married Sir Arthur Nicolson, 8th Baronet, of Lasswade *Margaret (1801–1828) *Robert Jack (1803–1874) * Alexander Jack (1805–1857), killed in the

Cawnpore Massacre The siege of Cawnpore was a key episode in the Indian rebellion of 1857. The besieged East India Company forces and civilians in Cawnpore (now Kanpur) were unprepared for an extended siege and surrendered to rebel forces under Nana Sahib in ret ...

*Grace Jack (1808–1828), died at Clifton *Margaret Janet (1810–1895), married James Hay of London *Mary Jesse (1809–1895) *Andrew Thomas William Jack (1822–1857), killed in the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jack, William 1768 births 1854 deaths People from Shetland Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Academics of the University of Aberdeen