George Ann Panton
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 ...
(1842–1903) was a 19th-century Scottish merchant and noted amateur botanist and geologist. In later life he was an actuary by trade with links to
Birmingham.
Life
He was born in
Cupar in
Fife
Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...
on 24 April 1842, the son of William Panton (1806–1871) and his wife Christian Eggo. He was grandson of his namesake, George Ann Panton (1769–1834).
His uncle was also George Ann Panton (1814–1873)
who became a minister in the Free Church of Scotland in
Glasgow and also ran a school for young ladies.
His family moved to
Edinburgh in the mid 19th century and his father was a partner in Panton & Young, hatters and clothiers at 35/36 South Bridge and living at 31 Hope Terrace in the
Grange
Grange may refer to:
Buildings
* Grange House, Scotland, built in 1564, and demolished in 1906
* Grange Estate, Pennsylvania, built in 1682
* Monastic grange, a farming estate belonging to a monastery
Geography Australia
* Grange, South Austral ...
. In 1863 he is listed as a member of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh and was living at 31 Gayfield Square at the top of
Leith Walk.
He inherited the house on his father's death. In the 1870s he is listed as Director of the English and Scottish Life Assurance Association and as Secretary of the Edinburgh Geological Society.
In 1872 he is also listed as a hop merchant.
In 1877 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
Charles Wyville Thomson
Sir Charles Wyville Thomson (5 March 1830 – 10 March 1882) was a Scottish natural historian and marine zoologist. He served as the chief scientist on the Challenger expedition; his work there revolutionized oceanography and led to his knight ...
,
Archibald Geikie,
John Hutton Balfour and
Alexander Buchan. He was President of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh.
His wife lived alone at 19 Leamington Terrace for several years before his death. He appears to have lived independently at 95 Colmore Row in Birmingham in his later life, where he was a member of the Birmingham Botanical Society.
He died on 28 January 1903. He is buried in the
Grange Cemetery in south Edinburgh with his parents and family. The grave lies in the main south-west section facing onto the south path.
Family
He was married in 1882 to Eleanor Gertrude Lowe, of Edgbaston, Warwickshire (1857–1934).
They had at least three sons (William, Henry and Tom).
[England and Wales Censuses of 1891 and 1901]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Panton, George Ann
1842 births
1903 deaths
People from Cupar
Scottish geologists
19th-century Scottish botanists
Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh