Researching Walter Scott

Scott was Saskatchewan's second longest-serving Premier, serving one continuous term from 1905 to 1916). He led the Saskatchewan Liberal Party in three general elections, winning all three with majority governments before retiring. He was the first of six Liberal Premiers to date. He was succeeded by William Melville Martin.

Scott was also the minister of various departments during his tenure as premier.

Prior to the creation of Saskatchewan in 1905, Scott was a Member of Parliament in the federal House of Commons, elected in the general elections of 1900 and 1904.

Scott was born in Dayton, Ohio on December 19, 1845, to Abram McLean Scott and Julia Ann Scott. At a young age, he moved to Iowa. He attended Fairfield University, his studies punctuated with the start of the American Civil War. After serving in the Civil War, Scott attended Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania and the Columbia University-affiliated Union Theological Seminary. Immediately after graduating, he began teaching ancient languages at Lafayette. An ordained Presbyterian minister, Scott led Arch Street Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1874 to 1878. Scott's taught at Wooster College in 1878, where he was professor of mental and moral philosophy and political economy. In 1881, he became president of Ohio State University. Though he was popular with students, he was immensely disliked by politicians, and resigned shortly thereafter in 1883 due to frequent interference in his work from politicians. He then became principal of Phillips Exeter Academy, where he started in 1884. He resigned in 1889 to go to Chicago, Illinois, and be involved in the publishing business. Disliking the city, he soon became the pastor of a Presbyterian church in Albany, New York. He resigned after a three years. In 1909, he was named President Emeritus of the Ohio State University Board of Trustees, later on for ten years becoming at the Bible Teachers' Training School of New York City the professor of church history and ethnic religions.

Walter Scott died on May 9, 1917, in Ellensburg, Washington. He was married to Cornelia (Edgar) Scott, with whom he had three children: Walter Quincy Scott Jr., Edith Davis, and Cornelia Bull.

Scott was born in Newton Tracey, Devon, England, third son of George Erving Scott and his wife Agnes, née Ward. He was educated at Christ's Hospital School and Balliol College, Oxford from 1874, where he graduated with first-class honours in classics (1878) and the Ireland, Craven and Derby scholarships.

From 1879–86 Scott was a fellow of Merton College. In 1884, after the death of Charles Badham Scott was appointed professor of classics at the University of Sydney, his inaugural lecture, 'What is Classical Study', delivered on 23 March 1885, was published as a pamphlet. In the same year his Fragmenta herculanensia: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Oxford Copies of the Herculanean Rolls Together with the Texts of Several Papyri Accompanied by Facsimiles, published at Oxford by the Clarendon Press, established his reputation as a scholar. The book is concerned with the classical texts preserved in the papyri found at the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum, and contains, besides the catalogue proper, a number of edited papyrus texts with commentary, including works of Philodemus.

At Sydney, Scott took much interest in the university as a whole. He was one of the leaders in the movement for the establishment of the women's college, and as dean of the faculty of arts encouraged the teaching of modern literature, history and philosophy, and the inauguration of university extension lectures. His health was, however, not good and in 1890 at his own suggestion his chair was divided, and he became professor of Greek. Scott carried out the duties of this chair for about 10 years, but resigned due to continued ill-health in August 1900.

Scott returned to England and in 1905 became professor of classics at McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. He, however, retired again in 1908 and spent the remainder of his life at Oxford. He contributed several papers to classical journals in England, Australia and Canada, and devoted his later years to the preparation of an edition of the text of Hermetica, The Ancient Greek and Latin Writings which contain Religious or Philosophic Teachings, ascribed to Hermes Trismegistus, with an English translation and notes. When Scott died of heart disease on 26 February 1925 the first volume had been published, and the second and third were in the press. The fourth volume, completed by Professor A. S. Ferguson, came out some years later.

Though essentially a scholar and shy in nature, Scott's work at Sydney and Montreal was much appreciated. His combination of profound and wide scholarship with idealism was a strong influence in university and teaching life. He did distinguished work as a classical scholar, but the amount of it was limited by his precarious health.

Scott worked as a building contractor, and was elected to Belfast City Council in 1959, for the Ulster Unionist Party. In 1961, he won a by-election in Belfast Bloomfield and was elected to the Parliament of Northern Ireland, holding his seat at each subsequent election, until the body was prorogued in 1972. From 1969 until 1972, he served as Chairman of Ways and Means and Deputy Speaker. He stood unsuccessfully as a pro-White Paper Unionist candidate in the election to the 1973 Northern Ireland Assembly.

On 27 December 1928, Scott married Hectorina Jessie MacDonald at St Paul's Presbytarian Church, Invercargill. They had four children during their marriage.

In the 1974 Queen's Birthday Honours, Scott was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to education and civil liberties.