Alexander Steuart PRSSA

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(1884 – 1960) was a 20th century Scottish inventor and horologist. In 1921 he patented the Steuart Clock an early accurate electric clock.

Life

He was born in Broxburn,

West Lothian West Lothian ( sco, Wast Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Iar) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and was one of its shires of Scotland, historic counties. The county was called Linlithgowshire until 1925. The historic county was bounded geogra ...

on 12 September 1884, the son of

Daniel Rankin Steuart Daniel Rankin Steuart FRSE FIC FCS (10 March 1848 – 1 August 1925) was a 19th/20th century Scottish industrial chemist. Life He was born in Bogside, North Lanarkshire on 10 March 1848, the son of Sarah Whitehead (1805-1888), and her husband ...

and his wife Margaret Osborne. He was educated at George Watson's College. He was then apprenticed as an electrical engineer at King & Co on Prince Regent Street in Leith. He then studied Electrical Engineering at Heriot-Watt College in Edinburgh. Around 1905 he went to

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

as a mining engineer. He then worked in the automobile industry for around a decade, working largely on instrument design, working variously in Singapore, Glasgow and Birmingham. Around 1920 he returned to Edinburgh and set up a radio and electric clock shop at 85 Pitt Street (now called Dublin Street). From 1930 he ran Jenners Department Store's electrical department on

Princes Street Princes Street ( gd, Sràid nam Prionnsan) is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (three ...

. In 1938 he succeeded

Alexander Robert Horne Prof Alexander Robert Horne FRSE OBE MIME PRSSA (1881–1953) was a Scottish engineer and author. Life He was born in Leven, Fife in 1881. He was educated at George Heriot's School in Edinburgh. He was apprenticed as an engineer to James Milne ...

as President of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts. In 1941 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were Sir Thomas Henry Holland,

Richard Stanfield Richard Stanfield (23 June 1863 – 10 October 1950) was a British civil engineer active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Early life Born in England on 23 June 1863, Stanfield was educated at the Manchester Grammar School, Man ...

, Sir Thomas Hudson Beare,

John Barber Todd John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

James Robert Milne James Robert Milne Royal Scottish Society of Arts, PRSSA FRSE (c.1880–3 February 1961) was a 20th-century Scottish physicist. He served as President of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts from 1923 to 1925. Life He graduated with a BSc from the ...

Thomas Rowatt Thomas Rowatt FRSE FSAS OBE MM (1879–1950) was a 20th century Scottish engineer who became Keeper then Director of the Royal Scottish Museum. Life He was born in Kew on 7 November 1879 to Scottish parents. His grandfather Thomas Rowatt (d ...

and Francis Gibson Baily. In the Second World War he was seconded to the design of aircraft instrumentation for the Ministry of Aircraft Production. In the British Empire Exhibition of 1924/25 he exhibited an electric regulator and electric turret movement. He died on 11 September 1960 at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh, the day before his 76th birthday.

Family

In 1911 he married Barbare Helene Mieras.

Publications

*''An Electric Clock with Detached Pendulum'' (1924)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steuart, Alexander 1884 births 1960 deaths People from West Lothian People educated at George Watson's College Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh People from Broxburn, West Lothian