Duncan Forrester Papers

The collection contains reports, articles, press cuttings and pamphlets relating to India, especially to Indian politics and religion, including material covering:

• 1967 General Election
• Presidential Election and Congress split 1969
• 1971 and 1972 elections and land reform
• India Emergency 1975
• Political parties and elections
• Indian central government, administration and constitution
• State politics and federation
• Madras Legislature interview questions (from Legislative Assembly Study, 1966)
• Tamil and Madras politics
• Political leadership in Tamilnadu
• Andhra politics
• Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab politics
• Religion, secularism, Communism, Harijans and tribal politics
• Politics of language
• Community development and Panchayati Raj
• Education
• Paper on Madras Christian College graduates by Forrester, 1975
• Caste issues
• Coorgs

Duncan Baillie Forrester, Church of Scotland missionary in Madras, India and theologian, was born in Edinburgh on 10 November 1933. He was educated at St Andrew's University (1951-1955) then spent a year at Chicago University (1955-56). After working in industry for a year he went to Edinburgh University in 1957 to study for the ministry and graduated BD in 1960. He was licensed by the Presbytery of St Andrew's in 1960 and started work at St James' Mission and Hillside Church.

In 1961 he went to Madras with the Church of Scotland and was Professor of Politics in Madras Christian College until his return to Scotland in 1970. Forrester had been ordained in India in 1962 but he returned to a largely academic life. He was first chaplain but also lecturer at the University of Sussex (1970-1978, receiving a D Phil in 1976), then Professor of Christian Ethics and Practical Theology at Edinburgh University where he also acted as Dean of the Faculty of Divinity and was Director of the Centre for Theology and Public Issues for a period. Forrester received a ThD from the University of Iceland in 1997 and a DD from Glasgow University in 1999. He has published widely, his particular interest being in Indian politics and religion and in ethics and political theology. He retired from Edinburgh University in 2001.

Open to researchers. It is essential to arrange an appointment in advance to view the archive in order that someone can be available to help. Please contact us by email at is-crc@ed.ac.uk . Telephone the Centre on: 0131 650 8900. Postal address: Centre for the Study of World Christianity, University of Edinburgh School of Divinity, New College, Mound Place, Edinburgh, EH1 2LX.

Duncan Forrester donated these papers to the Centre in the mid-1980s.

A paper catalogue to the collection is available to researchers at the Centre.

Description originally written and researched by Caroline Brown in August 2001. This was added to Archives Hub in August 2012 by Louise Williams.

No further additions to the collection are expected.