Sir David Lindsay Keir was a British historian and educator. From 1949 to 1965 he was Master

Master (college)

A Master is the title of the head of some colleges and other educational institutions. This applies especially at some colleges and institutions at the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge .- See also :* Master A Master (or in female form Mistress) is the title of the head of some...

 of Balliol College, Oxford

Balliol College, Oxford

Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....

.

Keir was born in Northumberland

Northumberland

Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...

 to William Keir and Elizabeth (Craig) Keir; his Scottish father was a Presbyterian minister, and moved several times during Keir's childhood, from Bellingham

Bellingham, Northumberland

Bellingham is a village in Northumberland, to the north-west of Newcastle upon Tyne and is situated on the Hareshaw burn at its confluence with the River North Tyne. Hareshaw Linn is a waterfall on the Hareshaw Burn near Bellingham. It is pronounced Bell-ing-jumFamous as a stopping point on the...

 to Newcastle

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

, Birkenhead

Birkenhead

Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...

, and finally Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, where Keir attended the independent school

Independent school

An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...

, Glasgow Academy.

In 1913 he began a degree at Glasgow University, but the War

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 stopped his studies and he was commissioned as a lieutenant. After the war he returned to university, at Oxford, where he studied history, obtaining a first class degree.

Keir was elected a fellow of University College

University College, Oxford

.University College , is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2009 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £110m...

, where he remained until 1939. He was a visiting tutor at Harvard in 1923-24. In 1939 he was appointed president and vice-chancellor of Queen's University, Belfast, where he remained until 1949.

In 1949 Keir was elected Master of Balliol; he stayed in that position until retirement in 1965.

Keir received a knighthood in 1946, for his service at Queen's.