Dr James Phemister

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 ...

FGS FMS (3 April 1893 – 18 May 1986) was a 20th-century Scottish geologist.

Life

He was born in

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south ba ...

on 3 April 1893, the son of John Clark Phemister (b.1858) and his wife, Elizabeth Galbraith Crawford. He was the older brother to

Thomas Phemister Prof Thomas Crawford Phemister FRSE FGS (1902–1982) was a 20th-century Scottish geologist. Life He was born in Glasgow, Scotland on 25 May 1902 the son of John Clark Phemister (b.1858) and his wife, Elizabeth Galbraith Crawford. He was the ...

. He studied mathematics, natural philosophy and geology at

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

graduating MA BSc in 1915. His career was 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 the

Royal Garrison Artillery The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) ...

. He was severely wounded in 1917. In 1921 he joined the British Geological Survey as a Geologist, mainly working in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Sco ...

. Between 1926 and 1929 he worked in Persia with

W. F. P. McLintock Dr William Francis Porter McLintock Companion of the Order of the Bath, CB FRSE (2 February 1887 – 21 February 1960) was a 20th-century Scottish geologist and museum curator, serving both at the Royal Scottish Museum and the Natural History Muse ...

, pioneering the use of the gravity torsion balance in oil exploration. In 1931 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

Murray Macgregor George Murray Macgregor FRSE (21 January 1884 – 21 January 1966) was a Scottish geologist. He was described as "Scotland's most eminent coalfield geologist." Life Macgregor was born in Glasgow to Agnes Murray and George Macgregor. He studied a ...

, Sir

John Smith Flett Sir John Smith Flett (26 June 1869 – 26 January 1947) was a Scottish physician and geologist. Early life Born in Kirkwall, Orkney, the son of James Ferguson Flett, a merchant and baillie, and Mary Ann (née Copland). He was educated at Kir ...

and

Herbert Harold Read Herbert Harold Read FRS, FRSE, FGS, (17 December 1889, in Whitstable – 29 March 1970) was a British geologist and Professor of Geology at Imperial College. From 1947-1948 he was president of the Geological Society. Life He was born at W ...

. He won the Society's

Neill Prize 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 ...

for the period 1959–61. In 1935 he moved to London as official Petrograher to HM Geological Survey. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he served with the government's Chemist Department, his roles including geological analysis of ballast within the

V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb (german: Vergeltungswaffe 1 "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Ministry of Aviation (Nazi Germany), Reich Aviation Ministry () designation was Fi 103. It was also known to the Allies as the buz ...

to assess where it might have been launched. In 1946 he became Assistant Director to HM Geological Survey but gave up the post in 1953 in order to return to Edinburgh, working in the Grange Terrace office with Dr

Walter Mykura Dr Walter Mykura FRSE FGS (1926–1988) was a Czech-born geologist working in Britain. Known as Wally Mykura he served as President of the Edinburgh Geological Society 1975 to 1977. He was awarded the Clough Medal in 1982 and the T. N. George Med ...

. He died in

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

on 18 May 1986.

Family

He was married to Margaret Clark (d.1982). They had two sons and a daughter.

Publications

* The full text of the Third Edition of this work (1960) is available at * *

References

1893 births 1986 deaths People from Govan 20th-century British geologists Alumni of the University of Glasgow Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh British Army personnel of World War I Royal Garrison Artillery soldiers Military personnel from Glasgow {{UK-geologist-stub