Robert Waldron Plenderleith

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 ...

(1901–1974) was a 20th-century Scottish engineer and museum curator. From 1953 to 1956 he was President of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts. He was also President of the

Astronomical Society of Edinburgh The Astronomical Society of Edinburgh (ASE) is an association of amateur astronomers and other individuals interested in astronomy, which is based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The objectives are to encourage astronomical study and observation and to ...

1959/60 and Chairman of the Edinburgh Scientific Film Society 1963 until death. In authorship he is known as R. W. Plenderleith.

Life

Robert Plenderleith was born in Coatbridge on 24 November 1901. He was the son of Robert James Plenderleith who was art master at Harris Academy in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

and Robert was consequently educated there. His elder brother was

Harold Plenderleith Harold James Plenderleith MC FRSE FCS (19 September 1898 – 2 November 1997) was a 20th century Scottish art conservator and archaeologist. He was a large and jovial character with a strong Dundonian accent. Biography Harold Plenderleith wa ...

. Harold's career was somewhat parallel to Robert's but greatly overshadowed that of Robert. He was too young to serve in the First World War (unlike Harold). He studied engineering at St Andrews University from 1918, graduating BSc in 1922. He then trained with the British Electric Plant Co. and the Harland Engineering Company before beginning as an engineer surveyor at the National Boiler Company in 1926. In 1935 his private interests brought him the position of Assistant Keeper at the Royal Scottish Museum on Chambers Street in Edinburgh and in March 1957 he became full Keeper of the Technology Department of the Museum. In the Second World War he served as District Transport Manager for the Glasgow district, organising transport for military forces. In 1957 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 Douglas Allan,

Hugh Bryan Nisbet Prof Hugh Bryan Nisbet FRIC FRSE CBE DLit (1902–1969) was a Scottish chemist who served as the first Principal of Heriot-Watt University. He had a specialist knowledge of petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a nat ...

, Sir

J. Donald Pollock Sir John Donald Pollock, 1st Baronet FRSE LLD (23 November 1868 – 4 June 1962) was a Scottish physician, industrialist and philanthropist who served as Rector of the University of Edinburgh from 1939 to 1945 and gave land to the University to b ...

, David Alan Stevenson II and

James Cameron Smail Dr James Cameron Smail FRSE FRSGS PRSSA CBE LLD (1880-1970) was a Scottish university Principal. Heriot Watt University library is named the Cameron Smail Library in his honour. He wrote extensively on printing and the history of printing. Life ...

. In 1965 he made a memorable visit to the

Science Museum, London The Science Museum is a major museum on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London. It was founded in 1857 and is one of the city's major tourist attractions, attracting 3.3 million visitors annually in 2019. Like other publicly funded ...

to critique the Freedom 7 space exhibition, which had held the astronaut Alan Shepard. He retired in 1966 and died at home, 25 Findhorn Place in Edinburgh on 22 November 1974, a few days before his 73rd birthday.

Publications

*''An Old Scottish Yard and Ell Measure'' (1959) *''Discovery of an Old

Astrolabe An astrolabe ( grc, ἀστρολάβος ; ar, ٱلأَسْطُرلاب ; persian, ستاره‌یاب ) is an ancient astronomical instrument that was a handheld model of the universe. Its various functions also make it an elaborate inclin ...

'' (1960)

References

1901 births 1974 deaths People from Coatbridge Alumni of the University of St Andrews Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Presidents of the Astronomical Society of Edinburgh {{Scotland-bio-stub