James Edward Crombie

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 ...

LLD (22 October 1862 – 6 August 1932) was a Scottish philanthropist, meteorologist and seismologist. He was a major benefactor of

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

. He underwrote the costs of several seismological projects undertaken by

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. The Crombie Halls of Residence (1960), Aberdeen University’s first purpose-built student accommodation, are named after him. Designed by Robert Matthew Johnston Marshall the property became a

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

in 2005.

Life

He was born at Grandholm Lodge 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 ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

on 22 October 1862, the second son of John Crombie (1819-1894), a wool mill owner, of the Grandholme Works, later known as Crombies of Fetternear. His mother was Jane Sang, daughter of John Sang of 61 Great King Street, Edinburgh. His older brother was

John William Crombie John William Crombie (4 March 1858 – 22 March 1908) was a Scottish woollen manufacturer, folklorist and Liberal Party politician. Early life Crombie was born in Aberdeenshire, the eldest son of John Crombie of Balgownie Lodge, near Aberdeen.' ...

, MP for

Kincardineshire Kincardineshire, also known as the Mearns (from the Scottish Gaelic meaning "the Stewartry"), is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area on the coast of northeast Scotland. It is bounded by Aberdeenshire on the north and w ...

. He was educated in

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 ...

. He then studied at King’s College in

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

, graduating MA in 1882, and thereafter becoming a Company Director in the family firm of Grandholm Woollen Manufacturing Works. His financial background allowed him the time to travel widely. He explored much of Europe (probably with his brother John) and wrote on many topics, with a special interest in death and burial customs. He was also a keen amateur meteorologist and seismologist, with a large collection of scientific apparatus relating to these subjects, housed in a specially constructed laboratory on his family estate. He gave financial support to the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

in their investigations of seismology, funding projects under

Herbert Hall Turner Herbert Hall Turner (13 August 1861 – 20 August 1930) was a British astronomer and seismologist. Biography Herbert Hall Turner was educated at the Leeds Modern School, Clifton College, Bristol and Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1884 h ...

. In 1907 his alma mater awarded him an honorary doctorate (LLD). 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 ...

in 1916 for his contributions to meteorology and seismology. His proposers were

John Arthur Thomson Sir John Arthur Thomson (8 July 1861 – 12 February 1933) was a Scottish naturalist who authored several notable books and was an expert on soft corals. Life He was born at Pilmuir east of East Saltoun, East Lothian, the second son of Is ...

Cargill Gilston Knott Cargill Gilston Knott FRS, FRSE LLD (30 June 1856 – 26 October 1922) was a Scottish physicist and mathematician who was a pioneer in seismological research. He spent his early career in Japan. He later became a Fellow of the Royal Society, ...

, John Rennie and Alexander Fraser. He died on 6 August 1932 in Parkhill House, north-east of

Dyce Dyce ( gd, Deis) is a suburb of Aberdeen, Scotland, situated on the River Don about northwest of the city centre. It is best known as the location of Aberdeen Airport. History Dyce is the site of an early medieval church dedicated to the 8 ...

in Aberdeenshire. He is buried in the churchyard of

St Machar's Cathedral St Machar's Cathedral usually called Old Machar (Scottish Gaelic: Cathair-eaglais Naomh Machar), (or, more formally, the Cathedral Church of St Machar) is a Church of Scotland church in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is located to the north of the c ...

. The grave lies close to the north-east corner of the church. He left a large sum to the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

and is memorialised by a brass plaque in King’s College there.

Family

He married Florence Dolly Showell (b.1874) in

Enville, Staffordshire Enville is a village and civil parish in rural Staffordshire, England, on the A458 road between Stourbridge and Bridgnorth. Enville is in the South Staffordshire district. The largest village nearby is Kinver, with the smaller villages of Bobbi ...

in September 1895.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crombie, James Edward 1862 births 1932 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh People associated with Aberdeen British seismologists Scottish philanthropists People from Aberdeen Alumni of the University of Aberdeen