Renwick, William Lindsay, 1889-1970, Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature, University of Edinburgh, Scotland,

William Lindsay Renwick was born in Glasgow on 6 January 1889. His father, William Renwick, was an agent. William attended the University of Glasgow from 1907-1912, taking classes in Latin and Mathematics in his first year; English, Logic and History in his second; Moral Philosophy and Education in his fourth; English (Honours) and British History in his fifth, and English (Honours) in his sixth and final year. He came joint fourth in the Education (Ordinary) examination in 1910 and second in the English (Honours) examination in 1912. He graduated with an MA in June 1910 and was awarded postgraduate first class honours in English in October 1912. He was awarded a Clark scholarship in 1912 and subsequently studied French and Italian Literature at Toulouse, the Sorbonne and the British School in Rome. He then served as a Private with the Cameronian Highlanders (Scottish Rifles) from 1914-1919.

After the First World War he studied at Merton College, University of Oxford, and was awarded a BLitt for his thesis on Edmund Spenser in 1920. Following a brief appointment as Lecturer in English Language and Literature at the University of Glasgow from 1920-1921, he was appointed Professor of English Language and Literature at King's College, University of Durham, in Newcastle-upon-Tyne from 1921-1945. In April 1926 he was awarded a DLitt by the University of Glasgow for his thesis Edmond Spenser : an essay on Renaissance poetry . During the Second World War, he also spent a year (1943-1944) with the British Council in China as a visiting Professor. In 1945, he was appointed Regius Professor of Rhetoric and English at the University of Edinburgh, a position which he held until his retirement in 1959. During this time he was involved in establishing the School of Scottish Studies in 1951. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Bordeaux in 1934 and was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Law by the University of Glasgow in 1953.

His publications include Edmund Spenser - An essay on renaissance poetry, (1925); Spenser's Works, (1928); John of Bordeaux, (1936); The Beginnings of English Literature, (1939); The Faerie Queene, (1947); English Literature, 1789-1815, (1963); and Kipling's Mind and Art, (1964). He also edited Edmund Spenser's Complaints, (1928); Daphaida and other Poems, (1929); The Shepherd's Calendar, (1930); and A view of the present state of Ireland, (1934); and also John Moore's Mordaunt: Sketches of Life, Characters and Manners in Various Countries . William Lindsay Renwick died in Edinburgh on 25 November 1970 .

From the guide to the Papers of William Lindsay Renwick, 1889-1970, arts graduate, University of Glasgow, Scotland, 1908-1913, (Glasgow University Archive Services)