Archibald Gardner was born in Johnston, Renfrewshire, Scotland, the eldest son of Robert Gardner, merchant. He matriculated at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, as an arts student in 1847 and during the 1848-1849 session attended the Logic and Rhetoric class of Robert Buchanan (1785-1873). He does not appear to have graduated from the University. He went on to be minister of the Free Church at New Deer between 1856 and 1877 before moving to be minister of Princes Road Presbyterian Church, Liverpool, England, from 1877 until his death in 1890 .
Robert Buchanan was born in Callander, Stirling, Scotland, in 1785 . He attended the divinity course at the University of Glasgow, distinguished himself in the philosophy classes, before being licensed as a preacher of the Church of Scotland by the presbytery of Haddington, East Lothian, and in 1813 was presented to the parish of Peebles.
In 1824, he was appointed assistant and successor to Professor Jardine in the chair of Logic & Rhetoric at the University of Glasgow, and becoming sole professor in 1827, he held the office till 1864, when he retired to Ardfillayne, Dunoon, Argyll & Bute, Scotland. He died on 2 March 1873. As well as lecturing Buchanan also wrote verse and prose. Though averse to independent and original speculations, he had a thorough mastery of the Scottish philosophy, and his highly cultivated taste was manifested not only in his verse, but in the correct and chaste style of his lectures. In commemoration of his services while occupant of the logic chair for forty years, the Buchanan prizes were instituted in 1866 for students of the logic, moral philosophy, and English literature classes. By his will he bequeathed 10,000 for the founding of Buchanan bursaries in connection with the arts classes of the university.
From the guide to the Papers of Archibald Gardner, fl.1848-1849, arts student of the University of Glasgow, Scotland, 1848-1849, (Glasgow University Library, Special Collections Department)
