Related Directory Categories
- Historians (156)
- Gibbon, Edward (18)
- History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (12)
- Macaulay, Thomas (12)
- Evans, Harold (10)
- Art Historians (10)
- Classical Historians (9)
- Procopius of Caesarea (7)
- Said, Edward (7)
- Parker, Geoffrey (6)
Sources
Help build the largest human-edited directory on the web.
Submit a site - Become an editor
Wikipedia. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Are you an expert in this subject? Join the discussion and share your knowledge at Wikipedia.org.
William Robertson (historian)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William Robertson (September 19, 1721 – June 11, 1793) was a Scottish historian and Principal of the University of Edinburgh. ("The thirty years during which (he) presided over the University perhaps represent the highest point in its history" according to D.B.Horn's (1967, p.76) "A Short History of the University of Edinburgh:1556-1889".)
He was born at Borthwick, Midlothian and educated in Dalkeith and at the University of Edinburgh, where he studied divinity. He became minister at Gladsmuir (East Lothian) in 1743 and later at Lady Yester's Kirk and Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh. A staunch Presbyterian and Whig, he volunteered to defend the city against the Jacobites led by Prince Charles Edward Stuart in 1745.
He became Royal Chaplain to George III (1761), Principal of the University of Edinburgh (1762), Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1763, and Royal Historiographer in 1764. Member of the Poker Club.[1] His most notable work was perhaps his History of Scotland 1542 - 1603 which was first published in 1759. He was a significant figure in the Scottish Enlightenment and also of the moderates in the Church of Scotland.
He is buried at Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh.
- The situation of the world at the time of Christ's appearance (1791)
- The history of the reign of Charles V (1792) 4 volumes
- The history of America Books 1-8 (1792) 3 volumes
- The history of Scotland (1794) 2 volumes
- An historical disquisition concerning the knowledge which the ancients had of India (1794)
- The history of America Books 9-10 (1796)
- William Robertson at James Boswell - a Guide
| Preceded by John Gowdie |
Principal, University of Edinburgh 1762–1793 |
Succeeded by George Husband Baird |
 |
This Scottish biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 |
This article about a historian is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Categories: Scottish people stubs | Historian stubs | Principals of the University of Edinburgh | Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland | People from Midlothian | Scottish clergy | Scottish historians | Academics of the University of Edinburgh | Alumni of the University of Edinburgh | 1721 births | 1793 deaths | Scottish Enlightenment | The Enlightenment | Burials at Greyfriars Kirkyard