George Coventry

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 ...

(1791–1872) was a Scottish minister of the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

and amateur scientist.

Life

He was born on 5 April 1791 the eldest son of Prof

Andrew Coventry Andrew Coventry FRSE (1762–1830) was a Scottish agriculturist. He was the first Professor of Agriculture in Great Britain. Life Andrew Coventry, born in February 1762, was eldest son of Rev George Coventry, minister of Stitchell in Roxburghs ...

and his wife. They lived at 29 Moray Place, a huge Georgian townhouse on the

Moray Estate The Moray Estate in Edinburgh was an exclusive early 19th century building venture attaching the west side of Edinburgh's New Town. Built on an awkward and steeply sloping site, it has been described as a masterpiece of urban planning. Backg ...

. His mother Eliza Hastie died when he was six. His father remarried two years later to Martha Cunningham. In 1826 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 proposer was Dr George Bell, son of

Benjamin Bell Benjamin Bell of Hunthill FRSE FRCSEd (6 September 1749 – 5 April 1806) is considered to be the first Scottish scientific surgeon. He is commonly described as the father of the Edinburgh school of surgery,Richardson BWS, Martin MSM. Discipl ...

. In 1830 he was living at 11 Windsor Street in Edinburgh. In that year his father died and he inherited the estate of Shanwell in Kinross-shire and other properties. He bought 49 Moray Place, a huge house close to his birthplace. He lived his later life at 33 Melville Street, a very large townhouse in Edinburgh's affluent West End. He died on 1 March 1872 and is buried in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and on ...

midway along the western wall in the section known as "lords Row".

Family

He was married to Jane Head (1798-1870). Their daughter Elizabeth married Major Alexander Pringle Scott-Moncrieff son of

Robert Scott Moncrieff Robert Scott Moncrieff (1 December 1793 – 18 June 1869) was a Scottish advocate, amateur illustrator and caricaturist. Life He was born in Tullibole Castle near Fossoway on 1 December 1793. He trained in law at the University of Edinburgh ...

of Tullibole. They were parents to George Kenneth Scott-Moncrieff.

Artistic recognition

He was portrayed by John Moffat.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coventry, George 1791 births 1872 deaths Scientists from Edinburgh Scottish landowners Burials at the Dean Cemetery Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 19th-century British businesspeople