George Dickie (23 Nov 1812,

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

– 1882) was a Scottish botanist, who specialised in algae.

Life

The grave of Prof George Dickie, St Machar's Cathedral

He studied arts, then medicine at the Universities of Aberdeen and

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

. He qualified as a doctor around 1835. In 1837 he is listed as a surgeon, living at Cherryvale in

. He became a lecturer on botany in King's College, Aberdeen, then University Librarian. In 1849 he was appointed the first Professor of Natural History at Queen's College, Belfast and became a Member of the

Belfast Natural History Society The Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society was founded in 1821 to promote the scientific study of animals, plants, fossils, rocks and minerals. The Society was founded by George Crawford Hyndman, James Lawson Drummond, James Grim ...

. In 1860 he returned to Aberdeen University as Regius Professor of Botany. He was succeeded in 1877 by Prof

James William Helenus Trail James William Helenus Trail FRS FLS (4 March 1851 – 18 September 1919) was a 20th century botanist who served as Professor of Botany at Aberdeen University from 1877 to 1919. Life He was born in Birsay on the isle of Orkney on 4 March 1851. ...

FRS. Dickie worked, most importantly on the range and depth of marine algae and on cataloguing material brought back from the

Challenger expedition The ''Challenger'' expedition of 1872–1876 was a scientific program that made many discoveries to lay the foundation of oceanography. The expedition was named after the naval vessel that undertook the trip, . The expedition, initiated by Wi ...

. Dickie was a Fellow of the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

(1863), a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

(1881) and a Member of the

. In later life he lived at 16 Albyn Terrace in Aberdeen. He died on 15 July 1882 at is buried in the churchyard of St Machar's Cathedral in

Old Aberdeen Old Aberdeen is part of the city of Aberdeen in Scotland. Old Aberdeen was originally a separate burgh, which was erected into a burgh of barony on 26 December 1489. It was incorporated into adjacent Aberdeen by Act of Parliament in 1891. It ret ...

. The grave lies south west of the church. He was succeeded by Prof James W. H. Trail.

Family

He was married to Agnes Willamson Low (d.1909).

Botanical Reference

References

External links

Algaebase
Bibliography. 1812 births 1882 deaths 19th-century Scottish people 19th-century British botanists Scottish botanists Scottish naturalists Scientists from Aberdeen British phycologists Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Aberdeen Scottish scholars and academics Academics of Queen's University Belfast Fellows of the Royal Society 19th-century Scottish medical doctors Scottish librarians Scottish marine biologists Fellows of the Linnean Society of London {{Scotland-botanist-stub