Edinburgh has had a exceptional number of the famous amongst its former students, staff and rectors, the latter category including the Prime Ministers
William Gladstone (1809-98),
Archibald Primrose (
5th Earl of Rosebery; 1847 - 1929),
Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965) and
Gordon Brown (b.1951), authors
Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881) and
Magnus Magnusson (1929 - 2007), and actors
Alastair Sim (1900-76) and
James Robertson Justice (1905-75). Remarkable connections exist with the Darwin family. Naturalist Charles Darwin (1809-82) studied medicine here 1825-27 but never graduated. His uncle and namesake died in 1778 while he was also a medical student in
Edinburgh and lies buried next to the University in the graveyard of the former
Buccleuch Parish Church. Darwin's grandson Charles Galton Darwin (1887 - 1962) worked here as the first Tait Professor of Natural Philosophy (later Physics).
(1989) 'No Spirits and Precious Few Women': Edinburgh University Union 1889 - 1989.
(1983) Edinburgh University - An Illustrated Memoir.
(1991) The Buildings of Scotland: Edinburgh.
(1982) Edinburgh: An Illustrated Architectural Guide.