Robert S. (Robert Sangster) Rait

Born on February 10, 1874, in Narborough, Leicestershire, to Scottish parents and raised in Aberdeen, he studied at the University of Aberdeen before going on to New College, Oxford. He became known as a historian and academic whose work focused strongly on Scottish history and on Britain’s constitutional and political past.

His career was closely tied to the University of Glasgow. He was the first holder of the Chair of Scottish History and Literature from 1913, later served as Historiographer Royal for Scotland, and became Principal of the University of Glasgow in 1929, remaining in that post until his death in 1936.

Readers may know him through works such as History of Scotland, The Parliaments of Scotland, Mary Queen of Scots, 1542–1587, and An Outline of the Relations between England and Scotland (500–1707). His writing reflects a lifelong interest in how Scottish institutions, rulers, and ideas shaped the wider story of Britain.