John Radcliffe was born on September 23,
1815 in Slievniskie,
Castlewellan, County Down, Ireland. He belonged to the
Church
of the Kirk or Church of
Scotland and went as a missionary to
Jamaica in 1848. He was Minister of the Scots Kirk in Kingston
for over 40
years. He was prominent in the public
life of Kingston,
particularly in the
educational and literary spheres, founding the Collegiate School, one of the premier boys'
secondary schools.
He died in Jamaica on
September 7, 1892.
Andrew Jameson Milne was born at Fyvie,
Aberdeenshire, and was
educated at the
grammar school, Aberdeen, and subsequently
graduated at King's College, Aberdeen as
Master of Arts. He came to
Jamaica in
1855, and was associated with the Rev. John Radcliffe in
the Collegiate School and as assistant minister of the Scotch Kirk.
He
remained in Jamaica for fourteen years,
during which he
rendered good service
in the cause of secondary education, and
was also a keen supporter of elementary
education, being one of the
Government's advisers on that topic. For his
services to the cause of education generally, his Alma Mater in 1865 conferred on him the
degree of
LL.D.; in 1869 he left Jamaica to
take the living of his
native parish of Fyvie, which
ministry he filled until the date of his
death in May, 1906. Dr. Milne was one
of the best known men in
the Church
of Scotland and in 1905, he was made Moderator of the
Church of Scotland.
William
Morrison was a native of Banffshire,
Scotland, and received his
education at Aberdeen University, graduating M.A.
He came to
Jamaica
in April 1863, as a master at the
old Collegiate School on
Church
Street. In 1870, on the departure of Dr
Milne from the island,
Mr. Morrison became
Principal of the School, along with the
Rev.
John
RadcIiffe. In 1880 Mr. Radcliffe severed his
connection with the
school,
which Mr. Morrison continued to manage, with that great
success which
was characteristic of it, until his death
in 1902.
William Morrison and the Jamaica Union of Teachers
William Morrison and the 1883 Commission