Background
He was born in Greenock the son of John Caird of Caird and Company and Janet Young.
He was born in Greenock the son of John Caird of Caird and Company and Janet Young.
He was educated at Greenock Grammar School, and then attended Glasgow University (Master of Arts 1845).
He served as the Principal of Glasgow University from 1873 until 1898. After being a minister at Newton-on-Ayr, at Lady Yester"s Church, Edinburgh (1847-1849), and at Errol, Perthshire (1849-1857), Caird was transferred to Park Church, Glasgow (1857-1862). In 1862 he became Professor of Divinity at the Glasgow University, and in 1873, following the death of Thomas Barclay, became Principal of the university, a post he held for 26 years, until 1898.
Glasgow University made him a Doctor of Divinity in 1860 and Edinburgh University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws (Doctor of Laws) in 1884.
He wrote An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion (1880), and Spinoza (1888). In 1897 he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
He died in Greenock and is buried in Greenock Cemetery.