From our families: Edward Playfair
Edward Playfair (MA Hons 1995) has family connections to the University of St Andrews dating back to the early 1700s. In this issue of LINK, Edward discusses the joy of reconnecting to his own student days through his son, Lyon, who is in his first year at St Andrews, and through the University’s Family Programme.
My family connection to St Andrews began in the early 1700s, when my ancestors first attended the University. In 1800, my four-times great-grandfather, Revd Dr James Playfair, was appointed Principal of the United College of St Salvator and St Leonard. His portrait still proudly hangs in Lower College Hall today.
One of his sons, alumnus Sir Hugh Playfair LLD, was Provost of St Andrews from 1842-1861, and played a major role in improving the town. Today, he is commemorated as one of the historic figures featured in the annual Kate Kennedy Spring Procession.
Sir Hugh’s son, and fellow St Andrews alumnus, William Dalgleish Playfair, who was killed in action at the Battle of Sobraon in 1846, is memorialised by a tablet in St Salvator’s Chapel. Another descendant, Lyon Playfair, was a Member of Parliament for the Universities of St Andrews and Edinburgh from 1868-1885. Overall, my family has been connected to the University of St Andrews for around 300 years.
From student to parent
I attended the University myself, graduating in 1995 with an MA in Classics. I’ve brought my family back every other year, so my children have grown up knowing the town well, but it felt different bringing my son, Lyon, to St Andrews to start as a student himself. It’s been 35 years since I matriculated and moved into Eden Court, the annex of the old Hamilton Hall (now Hamilton Grand), and the occasion certainly stirred up some memories. As a student, I arrived after a solo train ride from the south of England with a large suitcase and a set of golf clubs. I think my older brother, then a student at the University of Aberdeen, must have brought more up in his car a week later. It seems to be very different these days, with a lot of parents dropping new students off.
I’ve always maintained a connection to the University, but more so to the town itself. I’m keen on family history and have been in occasional contact with University Collections, which houses a fair amount of Playfair family diaries, photographs and other documents.
More recently, when our son became interested in attending the University and received an offer, we hosted bejant events at our home in Nashville, Tennessee. We were joined by the University Admissions team and fellow offer holders, giving the prospective students a chance to meet one another before embarking on their studies. My wife seems to be contacted by every prospective student’s mother in middle Tennessee looking for advice and information about St Andrews!
Continued connections
In the last few months, I’ve met with the University and other local representatives to try to build momentum for setting up a charitable entity to help Historic Environment Scotland and Fife Council look after the St Andrews Cathedral burial ground and adjoining Eastern Cemetery, respectively. These cemeteries house the remains and monuments of several significant St Andreans and University luminaries, including the 15th-century founder of the University of St Andrews, Bishop Wardlaw, Principals and academics of international renown. However, budgetary and manpower constraints over many decades have meant that both now need a considerable investment to get them back to even an acceptable condition.
Back home in Nashville, there have been a couple of attempts over the last decade or more to set up an Alumni Club, but nothing has materialised. There has, however, been quite an increase in matriculations from middle Tennessee, so maybe we’ll get there soon!
The greatest thing about St Andrews
The greatest thing about St Andrews is its timelessness. I’m reminded of a great quote by Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr: “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose”. It translates as ‘the more things change, the more they stay the same’. St Andrews changes, and has changed a lot over the years, but at its core, it’s still the same. It’s very comforting to come back to a familiar place full of many happy memories. In many ways, I’m reliving those now through my son’s journey at the University.
In this, my son’s first year, I’ve already returned for my own 30th reunion – albeit 31 years after the event – but the timing of my son being here made it all the better. I’ve kept up with many of my contemporaries but seeing other familiar faces from my time at St Andrews and picking up right where we left off decades ago was fantastic.
As I write this, I’m on my way back to St Andrews again, just a few weeks after the reunion, to watch my son take part in the centenary of the Kate Kennedy Spring Procession. I truly will be reliving my time, as I played the same part when I was a student. The University has doubled in size since I was an undergraduate, and I wonder if today’s students will enjoy the close-knit community and lifelong friendships that I did. Less than a year in, and it seems odds-on that they will. Again, ‘plus ça change’…
This article first appeared in LINK – the newsletter for members of our Family Programme.