Robert Proud was an English-born American educator and historian.
Background
He was born on May 10, 1728 in Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom, at a farm house called "Low Foxton". Later he moved with his family to a farm called "Wood End, " some twenty miles north of York. His parents were son of William and Ann Proud. Even as a boy he showed the love of learning that characterized his long life.
Education
When nearly grown, he left home to attend a boarding school kept in a distant part of Yorkshire by David Hall, a preacher in the Society of Friends and a writer of some repute.
Under the influence of Dr. Fothergill, he studied medicine with success.
Career
In 1750 Proud went to London, where a distinguished relative, Dr. John Fothergill, introduced him to Sylvanus and Timothy Bevan, eminent scientists and leaders among the Society of Friends. He soon became preceptor to the sons of the last named, a position which gave him a pleasant home, leisure to improve himself in literature and science, and opportunity for association with men of distinction.
His future seemed assured, when for some obscure reason he decided to go to Philadelphia, where he arrived January 3, 1759. With the kindly cooperation of James Pemberton, he opened a school for boys; on September 11, 1761, he became master of the Friends Public School. In 1770 he resigned his position and engaged in an unsuccessful mercantile venture.
During the Revolution he decided to write a history of Pennsylvania. As preliminary to this task, he brought together the finest private collection of source material ever made for the early history of the state. In 1780 he resumed his former position as master in the Friends School and retained it until May 31, 1790. Here, at a salary of £250 per annum, he instructed thirty or forty boys in mathematics and in ancient languages.
When he relinquished his teaching in order to prepare his history for publication, he received financial aid for the project from several former pupils. Though he failed to secure the support he had expected from some of the Friends, twelve of the most public-spirited men in Philadelphia each loaned him £50 to meet the expense of the enterprise. The work appeared in two volumes, 1797-98, under the title The History of Pennsylvania, in North America, from the Original Institution and Settlement of that Province in 1681, till after the Year 1742.
Proud's later years were spent in poverty and seclusion. Occasionally, he made translations from the Latin; more often he wrote poetry, some of which is good.
He died in Philadelphia.
Politics
His sympathies were ardently Loyalist.
Personality
Proud was a striking figure, tall, with a Roman nose and most impending brows.
Quotes from others about the person
Thomson says: "I well remember the imposing effect, which the curled, gray wig, the half-cocked, patriarchal-looking hat and the long, ivoryheaded cane, had on my boyish imagination. He was a zealous advocate for useful learning, a man of regular habits and great temperance, and in his manners the model of a gentleman. "