The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Davidson, Rev. John
Davidson, Rev. John, was born at Burntisland, Scotland, in 1834, and educated for the ministry. Having gained a considerable repute as a preacher, he was invited to assume the pastorate of Chalmers Church, Adelaide. Accepting the call, he arrived in South Australia in June 1870, and was connected with Chalmers Church till 1877, when he associated himself with the Adelaide Union College. When Sir W. W. Hughes agreed to endow the Adelaide University with £20,000 for two professorships, he stipulated that Mr. Davidson should fill the first chair of English Language and Literature and Mental and Moral Philosophy. Accordingly, when the University was constituted, in 1874, Mr. Davidson assumed the duties of the position. He died on July 22nd, 1881, leaving a widow, the daughter of the late Hugh Miller the famous Scotch geologist and writer. Mrs. Davidson, who died at Adelaide in Dec. 1883, was the author of "Isabel Jardine's History" (1867), "Christian Osborn's Friends" (1869), and contributed to the Adelaide newspapers and Chambers's Journal.