William Roberts Flett

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 (1900–1979) was a Scottish geologist and author. He served in both world wars.

Life

He was born in

Kirkwall Kirkwall ( sco, Kirkwaa, gd, Bàgh na h-Eaglaise, nrn, Kirkavå) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. The name Kirkwall comes from the Norse name (''Church Bay''), which later changed to ''Kirkv ...

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

, the son of James Scott Flett and his wife Margaret Beatton Robertson. On leaving school in 1916 he joined the

Gordon Highlanders Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gord ...

but was not sent into action (being only 16) and was involved in military education programmes. At the end of the war he went to

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 , ...

to study Geology and graduated BSc in 1924, immediately moving onto the staff at the university as a Lecturer in Geology. In 1947 he moved to the Royal Technical College as a Senior Lecturer. 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 again served in the

rising to the rank of Lieutenant. In 1952 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 John G. C. Anderson, Neville George, Basil Charles King, John Weir and George W. Tyrell. He died on 22 August 1979 aged 79.

Family

He was married and had a son and a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flett, William Roberts 1900 births 1979 deaths Alumni of the University of Glasgow Academics of the University of Glasgow Scottish geologists