James Watt WS

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 ...

FRSGS LLD (21 March 1863–3 December 1945) was a 19th/20th-century Scottish lawyer, actuary and geographer.

Life

Watt was born 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 21 March 1863. He was educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh. He did not attend university but was apprenticed as a lawyer at the offices of Ebenezer Mill at 51

Princes Street Princes Street ( gd, Sràid nam Prionnsan) is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (three ...

(later known as Mill & Bonar). In 1891 he became personal clerk to John Blair of Davidson & Syme WS based at 22 Castle Street in

Edinburgh's New Town The New Town is a central area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It was built in stages between 1767 and around 1850, and retains much of its original neo-classical and Georgian period architecture. Its best known street is Princes Street ...

. He trained as a

Writer to the Signet The Society of Writers to His Majesty's Signet is a private society of Scottish solicitors, dating back to 1594 and part of the College of Justice. Writers to the Signet originally had special privileges in relation to the drawing up of document ...

qualifying in 1896 and becoming senior partner of Davidson & Syme in 1912. A successful firm by this stage it was based at 28

Charlotte Square 300px, Robert Adam's palace-fronted north side Charlotte Square is a garden square in Edinburgh, Scotland, part of the New Town, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The square is located at the west end of George Street and was intended ...

, and Watt was living at 24 Rothesay Terrace in the West End, a duplex flat overlooking

Dean Village Dean Village (from ''dene'', meaning 'deep valley') is a former village immediately northwest of the city centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is bounded by Belford Road to the south and west, Belgrave Crescent Gardens to the north and below the ...

. In 1911 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 James Campbell Dewar, Charles Scott Dickson, Lord Dickson,

Sir James Dewar Sir James Dewar (20 September 1842 – 27 March 1923) was a British chemist and physicist. He is best known for his invention of the vacuum flask, which he used in conjunction with research into the liquefaction of gases. He also studied ato ...

and

Alexander Crum Brown Alexander Crum Brown FRSE FRS (26 March 1838 – 28 October 1922) was a Scottish organic chemist. Alexander Crum Brown Road in Edinburgh's King's Buildings complex is named after him. Early life and education Crum Brown was born at 4 Bellev ...

. He served as treasurer of the society from 1926 to 1937 and as vice president from 1937 to 1940 and from 1941 to 1944. In 1925 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 ...

awarded him an honorary doctorate (LLD) for his work with

Edinburgh University Settlement The Edinburgh University Settlement (EUS) was a multi-purpose voluntary organisation established by University of Edinburgh in 1905. The Edinburgh University Settlement was part of a larger settlement movement which began in Britain with the found ...

. He was a Fellow of the Faculty of Actuaries (FFA) a Fellow of the

Scottish Meteorological Society The Scottish Meteorological Society was founded in 1855 by David Milne-Home with private funding, particularly from wealthy landowners who wished to compile meteorological records in order to improve agriculture. The Society founded the observato ...

and Fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society (FRSGS) also serving as its vice president. He was also a Member of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society. He was on the management board for the Edinburgh Hospital for Diseases of Women and became its vice president in 1925. He became chairman of the board in 1939. He died in Edinburgh on 3 December 1945.

Family

In 1899 he married Menie Jamieson (d.1957, daughter Rev W.C.E. Jamieson, minister of the Tron Kirk on the

Royal Mile The Royal Mile () is a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. The term was first used descriptively in W. M. Gilbert's ''Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century'' (1901), des ...

. Together they had one daughter and four sons.

References

1863 births 1945 deaths Scientists from Edinburgh People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh Scottish lawyers Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society British actuaries {{UK-bio-stub