Robert Allan

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 (12 October 1806 – 6 June 1863) was a British advocate, stockbroker and amateur mineralogist. He was author of A Manual of Mineralogy which set a benchmark within this field.

Life

The grave of Robert Allan, Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh

He 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 12 October 1806, the son of Thomas Allan. He attended the High School in Edinburgh, and then studied law 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 ...

. In 1822, he met the German mineralogist

Wilhelm Haidinger Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger (or Wilhelm von Haidinger, or most often Wilhelm Haidinger) (5 February 179519 March 1871) was an Austrian mineralogist. Early life Haidinger's father was the mineralogist Karl Haidinger (1756–1797), who died w ...

during his visit to Edinburgh, and who (together with his father) greatly influenced his views. All three were friends and went together on mineral-hunting expeditions both in Britain and in Europe. In 1828, he was elected a Fellow of the Geological Society due to his contributions to mineralogy. He was admitted an advocate at the Scottish Bar in 1829. In 1832, 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 proposer was

James Crawford Gregory Dr James Crawford Gregory FRSE (1801-1832) was a Scottish physician and part of the Gregory family of notable physicians and scientists. His middle name is sometimes spelled as Craufurd. Life Gregory was born at 2 St Andrew Square in Edinburgh ...

. He died on 6 June 1863 at home at 4 Hillside Crescent in the Calton district of

. He is buried in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and on ...

. The grave lies at the beginning of the narrow south-west spur. His wife Matilda Allan (1808–1872) lies with him. He had inherited his father’s mineral collection in 1833 and in later life sold their joint collection to Robert Greg who, on his own death, passed the large and important collection to the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. It now forms a major portion of the mineral collection. His grandson was the agriculturalist, Sir Robert George Allan

(1879–1972).

Publications

*''A Manual of Mineralogy'' (1834) *''An Elementary Treatise on Mineralogy'' (1837) a revision of William Philip’s work

References

1806 births 1863 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish non-fiction writers Scientists from Edinburgh Burials at the Dean Cemetery People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh {{Scotland-scientist-stub