Former Fellows of The Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783 – 2002 Biographical Index Part One ISBN 0 902 198 84 X Published July 2006 © The Royal Society of Edinburgh 22-26 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2PQ BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX OF FORMER FELLOWS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH 1783 – 2002 PART I A-J C D Waterston and A Macmillan Shearer This is a print-out of the biographical index of over 4000 former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh as held on the Society’s computer system in October 2005. It lists former Fellows from the foundation of the Society in 1783 to October 2002. Most are deceased Fellows up to and including the list given in the RSE Directory 2003 (Session 2002-3) but some former Fellows who left the Society by resignation or were removed from the roll are still living. HISTORY OF THE PROJECT Information on the Fellowship has been kept by the Society in many ways – unpublished sources include Council and Committee Minutes, Card Indices, and correspondence; published sources such as Transactions, Proceedings, Year Books, Billets, Candidates Lists, etc. All have been examined by the compilers, who have found the Minutes, particularly Committee Minutes, to be of variable quality, and it is to be regretted that the Society’s holdings of published billets and candidates lists are incomplete. The late Professor Neil Campbell prepared from these sources a loose-leaf list of some 1500 Ordinary Fellows elected during the Society’s first hundred years. He listed name and forenames, title where applicable and national honours, profession or discipline, position held, some information on membership of the other societies, dates of birth, election to the Society and death or resignation from the Society and reference to a printed biography. Professor Campbell was preparing a card index of Fellows elected in the second hundred years but this remained incomplete. These works have formed a valuable starting point for the present compilation. Following a presentation by Professor John Laver through the Fellowship Committee (25/05/2000), the establishment of a Corporate Memory Index (CMI) was recommended. The Society then provided accommodation and computer facilities to the compilers to create the electronic biographical index. The project has been serviced by the Fellowship Manager (Dr Lesley Campbell) with technical support from the IT Support Manager (Ms Jennifer Cameron). SCOPE OF THE PROJECT Professor Campbell’s information has been verified and corrected where necessary. Entries have been added for Ordinary Fellows who died, resigned, or were removed within the period but were not included by Campbell. Information on all Honorary Fellows who died within the period has been added. We have sought to provide information in a number of additional fields. These cover places of birth, death and burial, parentage, marital status, family relationships to other Fellows, education and training, qualifications and career, publications, war service, names of proposers for election to the Society with notification dates, offices held within and awards received from the Society. THE FUTURE The compilers are aware that much information is lacking from the present work. They also know that any such composition cannot be free from error. The index is, however, an on- going project. It is hoped that feed-back to the Society from readers will provide necessary additions and corrections. We hope also that information on Fellows who have left the Society after October 2003 will be added. In any on-going project it is desirable to establish an audit trail of verifiable information. Campbell’s index, together with this print-out, will be placed in the Society’s library for that purpose. SEARCHES The obituaries of FRSEs in the publications of the Royal Societies of Edinburgh and London have been consulted and the references given. The Dictionary of National Biography, as a standard source, has been checked for FRSEs and references to all relevant entries given. All volumes of Who Was Who have been checked for FRSEs In so far as information has been readily available or known to us, the compilers have tried to provide a meaningful biographical background for each Fellow. It has been beyond the scope of the present work to be comprehensive in many fields and in too many cases we know little more than the surname and date of election. We hope that readers may be able to fill these lacunae. FRSEs in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography have not been searched since publication occurred too late to be included in this work. THE FIELDS Full name Name and designation Reference Unique reference number to file Surname Entries are arranged alphabetically by surname. Those known by a title other than their family name appear under the family name e.g. Dukes of Buccleuch under Scott, and those who have changed their names are listed under the last. In all cases cross-references are given. Hyphenated names are listed under the last name e.g. Harvie-Brown under Brown. Society lists etc. of earlier years sometimes refer to a Fellow not by name but by office held e.g. “Lord President”, “Lord Advocate”. The compilers have given the names of these office-bearers as appropriate. Forenames Each surname is arranged alphabetically by first forename. For hyphenated names the name or names preceding the hyphen appear after the forenames e.g. under Brown, John Alexander Harvie-. Title and British Honours Exceptionally, a non-British title has been given in this field where the individual is generally recognised by that title e.g. Count Rumford. Gender The first female Fellows were elected in 1949. Fellowship Type The entry HF signifies Honorary Fellow; OF, Ordinary Fellow. Profession An attempt has been made to use key words in this field to facilitate retrieval in any specific search. Some Fellows, particularly in the early years, did not pursue their interests professionally, but many were agricultural improvers or had other interests which we have tried to capture in this field. Appointments held A summary curriculum vitae is given as space allows. The activities of Fellows who have not been employed are indicated where known, e.g. Landowner, Independent Means etc. Date of birth day/month/year Place of birth Date of Election day/month/year Incorporated as Member 36 gentlemen were incorporated to the Fellowship by virtue of of the Edinburgh their membership of the Edinburgh Philosophical Society. Philosophical Society Yes/No Proposers The surname and forenames or initials of each proposer are given. Forenames and initials do not always appear on proposal forms and where possible have been identified by the compilers. Where it has not been possible to distinguish between Fellows of the same name, the name on the proposal document is given within inverted commas. The source of the information is given after the names – NLS Acc 10,000 refers to the Society’s collection of documents held on deposit by the National Library of Scotland. Date of Death day/month/year Place of Death Resigned/Removed The date is given as nearly as possible. Notes Field used for free text. Where different sources give different information, e.g. in dates of birth or death, the discrepancy is noted here. Additional information in elaboration of a Fellow’s achievement, e.g. inventions, are also noted here. Marital Status The date(s) of marriage(s) are given with the names and forenames of the spouses with heir dates of death. It has proved difficult to determine the maiden name of brides, especially so if the maiden name and married name are the same. Readers should not assume that the name given is the maiden name in all cases. Family Given here are the names and dates of son(s) or daughter(s) who have been or are Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. No attempt has been made to record family members who have not been elected Fellows. Mother Forename, maiden name and dates of birth and death may be recorded. Father Forenames and surname, designation and title and dates of birth and death may be recorded. An indication of the profession is also given when known. Siblings Given here are the names and dates of brothers and sisters who have been or are Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. No attempt has been made to record siblings who have not been elected Fellows. Other family The purpose of this entry is to supplement the relationships relationships given in previous entries to illustrate the family networks that existed in the Society. Relatives mentioned were all elected to the Fellowship. Schools and Tutors Primary and secondary schools with dates of attendance when known are given. Training Non-university training is given here, such as attendance at service training establishments. Apprenticeships are also recorded and include Engineering, Medical and Legal apprenticeships. Undergraduate studies Degrees of graduates with awarding universities and dates of awards are recorded. It was common practice in former days for students to take university classes of their choice without graduating. Where it is known that such classes were taken this is recorded. Postgraduate studies Higher degrees of graduates with awarding universities and dates of awards were recorded. Honorary degrees are similarly recorded but where these are too numerous to list, a selection is given. Publications It is beyond the scope of the present work to attempt bibliographies of Fellows. A selection of publications is given to illustrate the scope of the work of any Fellow. References The references cited are those used by the compilers in providing information for the file and are by no means exhaustive. Abbreviations (e.g DNB) are used for standard references that are given in full in the bibliography which follows.