The preacher and critic Hugh Blair was born in Edinburgh on 7 April 1718. He entered Edinburgh University in 1730, graduating in 1738 or 1739 with the degree of M.A. and writing a thesis entitled De fundamentis et obligatione legis naturae . In 1741, Blair became licensed to preach and held successively a parish in Fife, Lady Yester's Church in Edinburgh, Canongate Parish in the city, and Edinburgh's St. Giles'. The latter charge was given in June 1758 and he held it until his death in 1800.
In 1759 Blair started giving lectures on composition at Edinburgh University and in 1760 he was made Professor of Rhetoric, an appointment which was transferred to the Professorship of Rhetoric and Belles-Lettres in April 1762.
Blair was part of Edinburgh's distinguished literary circle of the day, and was a contemporary of David Hume, Adam Ferguson, and Adam Smith.
Blair championed the publishing of the Ossian fragments by James Macpherson (1736-1796). Blair's own lectures and sermons were translated and read widely abroad. Professor Hugh Blair died on 27 December 1800.
From the guide to the Papers of Professor Hugh Blair (1718-1800), 1765-1800, (Edinburgh University Library)
