Keddie, William, 1809-1877

Scottish editor, collector, scientist, and author.

William Keddie (1809-1877), Scottish editor, collector, scientist, and author, began his varied career in a Glasgow printing establishment in 1822. A decade later he became editor of the Scottish Guardian, a Glasgow literary review. Leaving the Guardian to pursue his scientific interests, Keddie joined the faculty of Free Church College in 1860 as lecturer in natural history and later donated to the college his geological and zoological collections. His scientific interests also led to his active participation in the Glasgow Philosophical Society, which he served as secretary and as editor of its Transactions.

In addition to science and letters, Keddie showed an interest in the religious questions of the day, particularly the Disruption of the Church of Scotland. He made The Scottish Guardian a forum for the discussion of such questions, and for a time he edited The Glasgow Sabbath School Union Magazine.

Another interest that engaged much of Keddie's time was the study of local history. He was the author of Moffat: its Walls and Wells (1845); Staffa and Iona Described and Illustrated (1850); and Maclure and Macdonald's Series of Guides to the Highlands of Scotland (1859).