Biography of James Scanlan Archbishop of Glasgow

James Donald Scanlan (1899-1976) was a graduate of the University and Roman Catholic Archbishop of Glasgow from 1964 to 1974. He was awarded an honorary DD in 1967.

Born in Glasgow, Scanlan was educated at St Mungo's Academy and St Aloysius' College. He matriculated at the University in 1915 intending to study Medicine but was sent to Sandhurst to train as an army officer and was gazetted to the Highland Light Infantry. After serving in East Africa and Egypt, he returned to Glasgow in 1920 to study Law, graduating BL in 1923.

Scanlan briefly worked for a law firm but soon discovered that his vocation was to be a priest, and he studied at St Edmund's College in Ware, the Institut Catholique in Paris and the Appolinare in Rome. He was ordained a priest in 1929 and held various Church appointments before 1946, when he became Co-adjuter Bishop of Dunkeld. He was Bishop of the Diocese from 1949 to 1955, and then Bishop of Motherwell until his appointment to the Archbishopric in 1964.

Summary

James Scanlan Archbishop of Glasgow
Clergyman
Born 24 January 1899, Glasgow, Scotland.
Died 25 March 1976.
University Link: Alumnus, Honorary Graduate
GU Degrees: BL, 1923; DD, 1967;
Occupation categories: clergy
NNAF Reference: GB/NNAF/P153052
View Major Archive Collection Record
Search for this person in the DNB
Record last updated: 7th Sep 2022

University Connections

University Roles

• Alumnus
• Honorary Graduate