William Purdie Dickson DD LLD (1823–1901) was a Scottish minister and theologian. He was Professor of Divinity 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 , ...

from 1873 to 1895. The William Dickson Prize is named in his honour.

Early life

William Purdie Dickson was born 22 October 1823 in Pettinain,

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotlan ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, the son of Rev George Dickson, the minister of

Kilrenny Kilrenny ( gd, Cill Reithnidh) is a village in Fife, Scotland. Part of the East Neuk, it lies immediately to the north of (but inland and separate from) Anstruther on the south Fife coast. The first element of the name is from the Scottish Ga ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

. The younger Dickson attended Lanark School and St. Andrews University. He was lincensed to preach as 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 ...

minister by the Presbytery of

Linlithgow Linlithgow (; gd, Gleann Iucha, sco, Lithgae) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It was historically West Lothian's county town, reflected in the county's historical name of Linlithgowshire. An ancient town, it lies in the Central Belt on a ...

in 1845. He was ordained in

Cameron, Fife Cameron is a parish in east Fife, Scotland, 3½ miles south-west of St Andrews.Gazetteer of Scotland, publ, by W & AK Johnston, Edinburgh, 1937. Article on Cameron. Places are presented alphabetically It is bounded on the north by the parish of ...

on 9 September 1851 and received a

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

from St. Andrews in 1865 and a Doctor of Laws (LLD) from Edinburgh University in 1885.

Academic life

In 1863 Dickson came to

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland, as the Professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism at the University of Glasgow, a position he held until 1873. From 1873 to 1895 he served as the professor of divinity after which he was succeeded by

William Hastie William Hastie MA DD (7 July 1842 – 31 August 1903) was a Scottish clergyman and theologian. He produced the first English translation of the '' Universal Natural History and Theory of Heaven'', by Immanuel Kant. Hastie led the General Assemb ...

.''General Assembly's Institution (1845-1907): Principals'' in ''175th Year Commemoration Volume''. Scottish Church College, April 2008, p. 568. Additionally, in 1866 he was also appointed the curator of the University of Glasgow Library. In that capacity he rearranged the entire library inventory into a single alphabetical sequence and produced a complete catalogue and other finding aids. Dickson also translated several publications during his career, including Theodor Mommsen's '' History of Rome and Provinces of the Roman Empire''. He was President of the Library Association in 1888 and Convener of the Education Committee of the

from 1875 to 1888. Dickson was awarded the Doctor of Divinity degree from The University of Glasgow in 1896.

William Dickson Prize

The William Dickson Prize was founded at The University of Glasgow in 1895 by Dickson and his wife. The prize is awarded annually to the most distinguished student in the College of

Divinity Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine

Personal life

Dickson was married to Tassie Wardlaw Small on 7 December 1853 in Cameron,

, Scotland. His wife was the daughter of John Small (1797-1847), acting

Librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time, ...

of the

University of Edinburgh 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 15 ...

, and the sister of John Small (1828-1886), who succeeded his father as Librarian. Dickson's wife and family were members of the Smalls of

Dirnanean Dirnanean House is part of a private, traditional Highland estate located near Enochdhu in Moulin parish, Blairgowrie and Rattray, Blairgowrie, Perth and Kinross, Scotland, 10 miles ENE of Pitlochry. The Dirnanean estate is situated adjacent to ...

, Perthshire, Scotland. The couple had two daughters and a son. He lived his final years at 16 Victoria Crescent in the

Dowanhill Dowanhill is an area in the West End of Glasgow, Scotland. An upper middle-class residential district, the area generally contains a mixture of terraced townhouses with private communal gardens, detached villas with private grounds and a number ...

district of Glasgow.Glasgow Post Office Directory 1900 William Purdie Dickson died on 9 March 1901.

Publications

*The Theological Chairs of the Scottish Universities (1883) *The Glasgow University Library (1888)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dickson, William Purdie 1823 births 1901 deaths Scottish Christian theologians Scottish translators Alumni of the University of St Andrews 19th-century British translators