(30 June 1902-19 Aug. 1989), clergyman, university president. (Hugh J. Somers) Born at Sylvan Valley, Antigonish, N.S. Parents: Thomas Somers and his wife Annie O’Brien. He attended St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, N.S., St. Augustine’s Seminary, Toronto, and Catholic University of America, from which he received his Ph.D., 1931. In 1927 he was ordained to the priesthood. He was a professor of history at St. Francis Xavier University, and held other posts there; was president of the university 1954-1964, and received many academic honours. He died in Antigonish, N.S. Mgr Somers wrote The Life and Times of the Hon. and Rt. Rev. Alexander Macdonell, D.D. First Bishop of Upper Canada (Washington, The Catholic University of America, 1931; pp. ix, 232). This work, which was originally his Catholic University of America Ph.D. thesis, and seems to have been his only published book, is an important source on Bishop Macdonell and perhaps more than any other volume, marks the transition of historical work on Glengarry from the private student and collector to the university researcher. The thesis was apparently the earliest Ph.D. thesis on a Glengarry topic. The book has apparently never been reprinted and, however desired by scholars and collectors, is almost impossible to obtain in the second-hand trade.

Canadian Who’s Who 1979 p. 932 * information supplied by university archives, St. Francis Xavier University