Snell Exhibition facts for kids
The Snell Exhibition is a special scholarship given every year. It helps students from the University of Glasgow study for advanced degrees at Balliol College, Oxford. Sir John Snell started this award in his will in 1677. He passed away in 1679. It took almost 20 years for the first scholarships to be given out because of disagreements about his will. The first four students received the award in 1699.
John Snell was a Royalist during the English Civil War. This means he supported the King. Later, he worked for the Duke of Monmouth. He managed the Duke's lands in Scotland. Snell wanted his money to help educate Scottish clergymen. These were religious leaders for the Scottish Episcopal Church.
Over time, the scholarship became more about general education. Famous economist Adam Smith was a Snell Exhibitioner. Even though the original rules said students should become Anglican priests, this rule was not always followed. John Snell is buried in St Cross Church. This church is now part of Balliol College's library.
Every year, there is a special dinner at Balliol College. People from Balliol, Glasgow, and St John's College, Cambridge attend. This dinner celebrates the founding of the scholarship.
Famous Snell Exhibitioners
Many important people have received the Snell Exhibition. Here are some of them:
- W. G. S. Adams: A political scientist and public servant.
- Hely Hutchinson Almond: A well-known headmaster of Loretto School.
- Matthew Baillie: A doctor who studied diseases.
- Captain Robert Blair: A brave soldier.
- Sir Drummond Bone: He was the head of Balliol College. He also led the University of Liverpool.
- Denis Brogan: A historian who wrote about the past.
- Robert Browning: An expert on the Byzantine Empire.
- Edward Caird: A philosopher who studied big ideas.
- Professor Tom Campbell: A philosopher who focused on law.
- John Douglas: He became the Bishop of Salisbury, a church leader.
- Sir William Hamilton: A philosopher who studied how we think.
- Andrew Lang: A famous writer.
- John Gibson Lockhart: Another notable writer.
- Professor Sir Neil MacCormick: A legal expert and a member of the European Parliament.
- Martin McLaughlin: A professor of Italian at Oxford University.
- Archibald Main: A historian who studied church history.
- J. H. Muirhead: A philosopher.
- John Nichol: A writer who wrote about people's lives.
- Herbert James Paton: A philosopher.
- Murray Pittock: An academic, meaning a university scholar.
- Robert Ranken: A cricketer.
- John Campbell Shairp: A literary critic who reviewed books.
- Adam Smith: A very famous philosopher and economist.
- John Smith: A professor of geometry at Oxford.
- James Stirling: A mathematician.
- Richard Susskind: An expert in law and technology.
- Archibald Campbell Tait: He became the Archbishop of Canterbury, a very high church position.
- Diane Watt: A scholar who studied the Middle Ages.
- W. S. Watt: A classicist, someone who studies ancient Greek and Roman cultures.
