William Macneile Dixon (1866 – 31 January 1946) was a British author and academic.

Biography

Dixon was born in India, the only son of the Reverend William Dixon and attended

Methodist College Belfast God with us , established = 1865 , type = Voluntary grammar , religion = Interdenominational , principal = Jenny Lendrum , chair_label = Chairwoman , chair = Revd. Dr Janet Unsworth , founder ...

. He studied at Trinity College, Dublin, where he was twice Vice-Chancellor's Prizeman in English verse, Downes' Prizeman, and Elrington Prizeman, and graduated First-Class, with the First Senior Moderatorship, in the Modern Literature School, and Second Class, with the Junior Moderatorship, in the Mental and Moral Science School in 1890. He also took considerable part in the public life of the University: he was President of the

University Philosophical Society The University Philosophical Society (UPS; ), commonly known as The Phil, is a student paper-reading and debating society in Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1683 it is the oldest student, collegial and paper-reading society in t ...

, auditor of the

College Historical Society The College Historical Society (CHS) – popularly referred to as The Hist – is a debating society at Trinity College Dublin. It was established within the college in 1770 and was inspired by the club formed by the philosopher Edmund ...

, and chairman of the students' committee for celebrations of the college's tercentenary. In 1891 he was appointed Professor of English Literature in

Alexandra College Alexandra College ( ir, Coláiste Alexandra) is a fee-charging boarding and day school for girls located in Milltown, Dublin, Ireland. The school operates under a Church of Ireland ethos. History The school was founded in 1866 and takes its ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, and was also a

Dublin University The University of Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Átha Cliath), corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dubl ...

Extension Lecturer; and in 1894 he was elected Professor of English Language and Literature in the

Mason Science College Mason Science College was a university college in Birmingham, England, and a predecessor college of Birmingham University. Founded in 1875 by industrialist and philanthropist Sir Josiah Mason, the college was incorporated into the University o ...

, afterwards

Birmingham University , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

. He was also Professor of Literature to the

Royal Birmingham Society of Artists The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists or RBSA is an art society, based in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, England, where it owns and operates an art gallery, the RBSA Gallery, on Brook Street, just off St Paul's Square. It is both a ...

. He was chosen President of the Library Association of the United Kingdom in 1902, and re-elected in 1903. Lastly, on the transference of Professor

Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebelli ...

to Oxford, Professor Dixon received the appointment to the Regius Professorship of English Language and Literature 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 1904 until 1935. In 1938 he was elected an honorary fellow of

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

. Besides articles in the '' Quarterly Review ''and other periodicals, Professor Dixon's publications included ''English Poetry from Blake to Browning''; ''A Tennyson Primer''; ''In the Republic of Letters''; a monograph on Trinity College, Dublin, in the College History Series; and ''The Human Situation'' (1937), a collection of his Glasgow

Gifford lectures The Gifford Lectures () are an annual series of lectures which were established in 1887 by the will of Adam Gifford, Lord Gifford. Their purpose is to "promote and diffuse the study of natural theology in the widest sense of the term – in o ...

that sold its way into seven editions. This is a remarkable conspectus of man's place in the universe which ranges over a very wide field of scientific and philosophical inquiry.

Personal life

In 1891 he married Edith Wales, daughter of G. F. Wales, M.D., F.R.C.S.E. A ''Portrait of Mrs. Macneile Dixon'' was painted by the Birmingham artist Kate Bunce. He was a member of the

Royal Ulster Yacht Club The Royal Ulster Yacht Club is located in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland, on the south shore of Belfast Lough. History The club was established in 1866 as the Ulster Yacht Club, on the impetus of Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st ...

. While visiting Edinburgh, Dixon died on 31 January 1946.

References

"Biography of William Macneile Dixon"
in ''The University of Glasgow Story'', University of Glasgow. * George Eyre-Todd

in ''Who's Who in Glasgow 1909''. ''This article incorporates text from ''Who's Who in Glasgow 1909'' by George Eyre-Todd, a publication now in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

.''

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dixon, William Macneile 1866 births 1946 deaths British literary critics People educated at Methodist College Belfast Academics of the University of Glasgow Honorary Fellows of Trinity College Dublin Ulster Scots people Academics from Northern Ireland Male non-fiction writers from Northern Ireland Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Academics of the University of Birmingham Auditors of the College Historical Society