REID, HUGO, educator and author; b. 21 June 1809 in Edinburgh, Scotland, third son of Dr Peter Reid and Christian Arnot; d. 13 June 1872 in London, Eng.
Hugo Reid spent an active and useful life in Great Britain and North America lecturing in science, language, and logic and writing on a wide variety of subjects. A distinguished alumnus of the High School in Edinburgh, he lectured in Glasgow, Carlton, Mile End, Brighton, and Liverpool and became principal of People’s College, Nottingham. He was a member of the Lothian and Philosophical societies of Glasgow and of the Hunterian Society of Edinburgh. In 1839 he married Marion, eldest daughter of James Kirkland, a Glasgow merchant. They had one child, a daughter.
In November 1855 Hugo Reid went to Halifax where he became principal of the high school and of the junior school which began in Dalhousie College on 15 Jan. 1856. He was also professor of logic, general grammar, and English, dean of the faculty, and chairman or principal of Dalhousie when it resumed university courses in October 1856. The university then had a faculty of five and a student enrollment of 15. By 1857 two of the professors had resigned and again the decision was made to discontinue university work. Reid remained as principal of the Collegiate School until 26 Jan. 1860 when he resigned. At this point the governors of Dalhousie, who were receiving no cooperation from the community, decided to give the one remaining professor six months notice and to cease operations completely, “perhaps the darkest period in the history of Dalhousie.”
While in Halifax Reid wrote and published several works including Elements of geography adopted for use in Br. America . . . and Remarks on university education in Nova Scotia. He was a founding member and secretary of the Nova Scotia Literary and Scientific Society and a frequent contributor to its Transactions. In 1858 he gave a series of lectures to the Halifax Mechanics’ Institute, and later prepared and published a map of Nova Scotia. Following a visit to relatives in the United States, he returned to Great Britain where he continued to write and publish until his death.
A list of Hugo Reid’s works can be found in British Museum catalogue. See also: PANS, Correspondence of Hugo Reid, 1856–59. Edinburgh Courant, 21 June 1872. Morning Chronicle (Halifax), 18 Dec. 1855; 1 Jan., 26 June, 16 Sept. 1856; 23 Jan. 1858. D. C. Harvey, An introduction to the history of Dalhousie University (Halifax, 1938). G. G. Patterson, The history of Dalhousie College and University (Halifax, 1887).
Charles Bruce Fergusson, “REID, HUGO,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 10, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed November 28, 2024, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/reid_hugo_10E.html.
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| Permalink: | http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/reid_hugo_10E.html |
| Author of Article: | Charles Bruce Fergusson |
| Title of Article: | REID, HUGO |
| Publication Name: | Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 10 |
| Publisher: | University of Toronto/Université Laval |
| Year of publication: | 1972 |
| Year of revision: | 1972 |
| Access Date: | November 28, 2024 |