James Balfour Lockhart

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 ...

(1886–27 January 1969) was a Scottish mathematician and teacher. He was generally known as J. B. Lockhart or simply JBL. He was 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 ...

Life

He was born in

Cambuslang Cambuslang ( sco, Cammuslang, from gd, Camas Lang) is a town on the south-eastern outskirts of Greater Glasgow, Scotland. With approximately 30,000 residents, it is the 27th largest town in Scotland by population, although, never having had a ...

in 1886. He was educated locally then studied for the civil service at

Skerry's College Skerry's College was a series of colleges which primarily prepared candidates for Civil Service examinations. History 1878-1885 Skerry’s College was inaugurated as a small training centre in Edinburgh in 1878 by George Skerry,Skerry's Colleg ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. In 1912 he decided to start studying mathematics and natural philosophy (physics) at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. His studies were interrupted by the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, during which he served in Egypt and Gallipoli. He appears to have been a Private in the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

Returning to university after the war he graduated with first class honours also receiving the Napier Medal for best mathematician in 1920. After graduation he decided to stay in Edinburgh and began teaching at

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in the city's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, is now part of the Se ...

. In 1930 he became house-master of Dundas House, a boarding facility for the academy at 2 Kinnear Road. In 1932 he was elected a Fellow of the

. His proposers were Sir Edmund Taylor Whittaker,

Herbert Turnbull Prof Herbert Westren Turnbull FRS FRSE LLD (31 August 1885 – 4 May 1961) was an English mathematician. From 1921 to 1950 he was Regius Professor of Mathematics at the University of St Andrews. Life He was born in the Tettenhall district, on ...

Charles Barkla Charles Glover Barkla FRS FRSE (7 June 1877 – 23 October 1944) was a British physicist, and the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1917 for his work in X-ray spectroscopy and related areas in the study of X-rays (Roentgen rays). Life ...

and

Sir Charles Galton Darwin Sir Charles Galton Darwin (19 December 1887 – 31 December 1962) was an English physicist who served as director of the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) during the Second World War. He was a son of the mathematician George Howard Darwin a ...

. In 1937 he moved to Inverleith Grove, and in 1940 took over as Head of Mathematics. In October 1950 he fell ill and in 1951 was forced to retire due to a heart condition. He died of complications following an operation on a broken leg in

Glenfarg Glenfarg (Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Fairg) is a village in the Ochil Hills in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Until 14 June 1964, the village had a railway station, Glenfarg railway station, on the main line between Perth and Edinburgh via Kinross. Alth ...

Hospital on 27 January 1969. His wife died in July of the same year.

Family

He was happily married to Adie, whom he had met as a student at Skerrys College. Holidays were spent at his cottage in

Kingskettle Kingskettle or often simply Kettle is a village and parish in Fife, Scotland. Encompassed by the Howe of Fife, the village is approximately southwest of the nearest town, Cupar, and north of Edinburgh. According to the 2011 Census for Scotlan ...

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 his retirement they moved to Balmony, a cottage in Glendevon in southern Perthshire (now part of Clackmannanshire). His hobbies included bee-keeping.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lockhart, James Balfour 1886 births 1969 deaths People from Cambuslang Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British mathematicians Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh