Name W. McLeod | Fields History | |
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Born 2 August 1932Feilding, New Zealand ( 1932-08-02 ) Known for Sikh history and culture Spouse Margaret Wylie (m. 1955) Alma mater SOAS, University of London Books The Sikhs: History - Religion, Who is a Sikh?, Historical dictionary of Sikhism, Guru Nanak and the Sikh, Sikhs of the Khalsa: A History of | ||
William Hewat "Hew" McLeod (2 August 1932 – 20 July 2009) was a New Zealand scholar who wrote about Sikh history and culture. He produced many books and essays on Sikh identity, Sikh history and Sikh theology. His work frequently was a source of controversy.
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Personal life
McLeod was born and raised in a farming family near Feilding, in New Zealand's North Island. He met Margaret Wylie in Dunedin during his university studies, and they were married in May 1955. They had four children.
Education
McLeod was educated at Nelson College from 1946 to 1950, and then at the University of Otago, Dunedin, where he earned a BA and then an MA in history, graduating in 1954. He then began theological studies and in 1958 joined the New Zealand Presbyterian church's mission to Punjab, India. At Kharar, in Punjab, he learned the local languages (Hindi and Punjabi) and taught English at the Christian Boys secondary school.
Later, he completed a PhD at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London in 1965.
In 1990 he was awarded a DLit by the University of London, and he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 1999.