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WILLIAM STANFORD REID: IN MEMORIAM

by Bob Wilson, Professor of Church History, Acadia Divinity College

W. Stanford Reid, 83, died on December 28, 1996, in Guelph, Ontario.

He was born in Westmount, Quebec, the son of Rev. W.D. Reid. He received

a BA in history (1934)from McGill University, Montreal; a ThB and ThM

(1938) from WestminsterTheological Seminary, Philadelphia; and his PhD

(1941) from the Universityof Pennsylvania. In 1940, he married Priscilla Lee,

daughter of Rev. H. S. Lee. On the latter's death, Reid returned to Montreal to

assume the pastorate of his father-in-law's congregation while also lecturing

part-time in history at McGillUniversity. After four years at Fairmount

Taylor Church, he moved to thePresbyterian Church of the Town of Mount

Royal which he organized in 1944 and where he remained until 1951when he

became associate professor at McGill. The followingyear, he became director

of men's residences at McGill. On the establishment of the Universityof

Guelph in 1965, he organizedand became the first chair of the history

department. From 1970 to 1978, he was professor of history. While at Guelph,

his love of all thingsScottish motivated him to search out so many materials

that the librarythere came to have one of the finest collections of Scottish

material outside Scotland.

In 1975, Reid received the honorary degree Doctor of Human Letters

(LHD) from Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois, and, in 1979,the honorary

degree Doctor of Divinity from The Presbyterian College, Montreal. Heacted

as visiting lecturerin universities, colleges and seminaries in Europe, Great

Britain, the United States, SouthAfrica, the West Indies, Australia and

Canada. He also published many articles in both historicaland theological

journals as well as writing five books, and editing others. His best known

work was THE TRUMPETER OF GOD, a biography of John Knox.

Stanford Reid had a vital interest in both students and theinteraction

of faithand life. From his days at McGill, he was active in Inter Varsity

Christian Fellowship and provided significant leadership for the movement at

McGill and Guelph. He was one of the foundingmembers of The Conference

of Faith and History as he strongly supported theideal of integration of faith

and the historian's craftand avidly encouraged his students to join the

conference. As thefirst head of the History Department of the University of

Guelph, he gathered a significant group of evangelical scholars.At the

founding of the department, he also initiateda graduate program in History.