Joseph Parker

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 ...

MIME (1871–1940) was a Scottish mining engineer and educator.

Biography

Parker was born in

Coatbridge Coatbridge ( sco, Cotbrig or Coatbrig, gd, Drochaid a' Chòta) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. Along with neighbouring town Airdrie, Coatbridge forms the area known as ...

on 28 October 1871, the son of Elizabeth Ellen (née Wilson) and William Todd Parker, a

coalminer Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

. He was raised in Hamilton, and became a miner when aged 13. However, he vowed to improve himself and took classes at

Hamilton Academy Hamilton Academy was a school in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The school was described as "one of the finest schools in Scotland" in the Cambridge University Press County Biography of 1910, and was featured in a 1950 Scottish Seconda ...

. He studied Mining Science 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 ...

where he gained a doctorate (DSc). He also took a course in Electrical Engineering at Heriot-Watt. In 1894 he began lecturing in Mining Technology for Fife County Council. From 1901 he also took on the role of Colliery Manager at

Cardenden Cardenden () is a Scottish town located on the south bank of the River Ore in the parish of Auchterderran, Fife. It is approximately north-west of Kirkcaldy. Cardenden was named in 1848 by the Edinburgh and Northern Railway for its new railway ...

. From 1902 he was Principal of

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 ...

Mining School, based in

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 18 ...

, living then at 128 Stenhouse Street in Cowdenbeath. In 1924 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 Henry Briggs,

Arthur Pillans Laurie Prof Arthur Pillans Laurie FRSE LLD (1861 – 1949) was a Scottish chemist who pioneered the scientific analysis of paintings, especially by Rembrandt. He also was a fascist symapthiser who opposed the Second World War. Early life Laurie wa ...

Francis Gibson Baily Francis Gibson Baily FRSE (1868–1945) was a British electrical engineer remembered for his research into electromagnetism. He was one of the first to suggest the use of water power to produce electricity and as such was the forefather of hydro ...

, and James Cooper. He retired in 1937. He died in

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...

on 5 October 1940.

Family

In 1896 he married his first cousin, Mary Parker. They had a daughter, Agnes Parker and a son Joseph Parker.

References

1871 births 1940 deaths British mining engineers Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh {{UK-engineer-stub