CRUICKSHANKS, WILLIAM (ca. 1802-1876)

Educationist

William Cruickshanks was abandoned as a young boy at Madras Military Orphan Asylum and became blind at age 12 or 13. His education was irregular but he persevered in memorizing whatever he could, and eventually worked as a private tutor. Cruickshanks was married twice and had children. By 1838, he had so impressed educationists at Madras that they made him headmaster of the Native Education Society's School with 100 pupils. In 1841, he became head of the asylum where he had grown up, and then headed the missionaries' Anglo-Vernacular School in Palamcotta (Palankottai) for 26 years, becoming a famous educationist. Cruickshanks was also a devoted Christian evangelist and brooked no objection from his Hindu pupils to this endeavor. Trading on his blindness, he ignored boys' efforts to leave when he was preaching at them individually—the hapless lads [Page 330]could not use visual signals of their wish to go, and were too polite just to walk away. Some of them, while ignoring Cruickshanks's proselytising, recognized him as a man whose character and spirit influenced them deeply. He continued in educational work until his death.