Mount Allison University Archives. Picture collection, 2007.07/172. May only be reproduced with permission of the Mount Allison University Archives
Humphrey Pickard was born on 10 June 1813 in Fredericton, New Brunswick. He was the son of Thomas Pickard (1783-1866) and Mary Burpee (1783-1833). He was educated in Fredericton, New Brunswick, and at the Wesleyan Academy in Wilbraham, Massachusetts. Thereafter, he initiated his studies at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. He came back to New Brunswick and in 1835 decided to become a Methodist minister. He returned to Wesleyan in 1837 and graduated in 1839.
Charles Frederick Allison chose him to open the Mount Allison Wesleyan Academy in 1843. When the Female Branch of the Academy (later Mount Allison Ladies’ College) opened in 1854, he became Principal of both branches. Through his efforts Mount Allison Wesleyan College (later Mount Allison University) was organized and he became its first President in 1862. He served until 1869 when he moved to Halifax and became editor of the Provincial Wesleyan. He continued to serve Mount Allison as a member of the Board of Governors. Wesleyan University conferred an honorary degree (DD) on him in 1857.
He was married twice: Hannah Maynard Thompson (1812-1844) on 2 October 1841 and Mary Rowe Carr (1810-1887) on 5 September 1846. He had two daughters from his second marriage who survived to adulthood: Mary Emerancy (1847-1918) and Amelia Elizabeth (1849-1907). He died in Sackville, New Brunswick, on 28 February 1890.
You can find more information about Rev. Humphrey Pickard and peruse the contents his fonds (accession nos. 8203 & 8241) on our Descriptions Database. Related materials also include the Pickard, Dixon, Godfrey family fonds (accession no. 2000.01) and the Pickard, Dixon, Black, Hart family fonds (accession no. 2000.02). You can access these records by planning a visit to the archives.