Robert Proud

Robert Proud (1728–1813) was an English educator, Quaker and historian known for his research and writing about the Province of Pennsylvania (also known as the Pennsylvania Colony).

Dubbed "Pennsylvania's first historian" Proud was a Loyalist during the American Revolution, and completed much of his writing while living in poverty after emigrating from England to Philadelphia.

Formative years

Born on May 10, 1728, in Yorkshire, England, Robert Proud was a son of Ann and William Proud, a prosperous farmer. Initially reared "on a leasehold near the North-Riding market-town of Thirsk," according to historian J. H. Powell, he was educated in a primary school in the community of his birth, but was then sent at the age of 18 by his parents to David Hall's Quaker boarding school at Skipton. While there, he trained intensively in classical studies. After completing his education in 1750, he worked briefly as a bookkeeper in London before being persuaded by Dr. John Fothergill to pursue studies in botany and pharmacopoeia, which he did. In order to support himself, he secured work as a tutor for several families, including that of Timothy Bevan of Hackney, with whom he resided for a number of years before emigrating from England in late winter of 1758.

Shortly after arriving in the Province of Pennsylvania (also known as the Pennsylvania Colony), he settled in Philadelphia, where he launched a private school for boys dedicated to the instruction of Latin. When that school failed two years later, he was hired to teach at The Friends School in that city in September 1761.