Alexander Colville (principal)

Of aristocratic birth, he declined his "de jure" title of Lord Culross.

[1] He was educated for ministry in the Church of Scotland, and around 1635, he obtained a post as Professor of Theology and Hebrew at the University of Sedan in France.

[2] Around 1656, he became entitled Lord Colville of Culross but chose to decline both the title and the estate which instead passed to his cousin.

In 1662, he was appointed Principal of St Mary's College in place of Samuel Rutherford (who had chosen this role instead of Edinburgh).

[3] Around 1635, he married a French woman, Anne Le Blanc, of Sedan.