Registrars

Hugh Kennedy

Hugh Kennedy was the University of Sydney Registrar and Secretary from 1852 to 1882.

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(1829 - 1882)
BA Oxf
Registrar and Secretary: 1852 - 1882

Hugh Kennedy, University of Sydney Registrar, was born on 19 September 1829.
In 1847 he matriculated to Balliol College, Oxford, and studied divinity, classics, mathematics and logic.

In 1852 Kennedy went to New South Wales and in 1853 became a clerk in the Colonial Secretary's Office, transferring in March to the Customs Department as a clerk. In September 1853 he become Registrar and Secretary of the University of Sydney. In 1855 he was also appointed assistant professor of classics.

Kennedy kept detailed minutes of Senate and other meetings, registers (some in Latin) and dealt with correspondence. These records, often in Kennedy's own handwriting, form the basis of the University of Sydney's official archives. His duties included monitoring the condition of student lodging-houses. His long term of office gave administrative stability to the University. His lecturing role had become purely nominal by the 1870s. He was a member of the Linnean Society of New South Wales.

By 1880 Kennedy had become affected by mental illness and was granted leave of absence by the University Senate. The Bulletin, 8 January 1881, attributed his illness to unsuccessful land speculations.

Kennedy died intestate at the Hospital for the Insane, Gladesville, on 26 May 1882 and was buried in Rookwood cemetery.

Information source: Australian Dictionary of Biography