Andrew Charles O'Dell

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 Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

FRGS The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

FRSGS (1909–1966) was a Scottish geographer and antiquarian. A keen railway enthusiast he left a large collection of railway memorabilia to Aberdeen University, known as the O'Dell Collection. He was joint founder of the

Institute of British Geographers The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

in 1933. He was best known to the general public for his involvement in the discovery of the St Ninian's Isle Treasure in Shetland, in 1959.

Life

He was born on 4 June 1909 in Luipardsvlei in the

Transvaal Colony The Transvaal Colony () was the name used to refer to the Transvaal region during the period of direct British rule and military occupation between the end of the Second Boer War in 1902 when the South African Republic was dissolved, and the ...

, the son of Charles O'Dell. His mother was from the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...

. He was educated at Westminster City School in London. He then studied Geography at Kings College

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. From 1945 he was Head of the Department Geography at Aberdeen University. In 1951 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) 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 establis ...

. His proposers were Alan Grant Ogilvie, John Baird Simpson, James Robert Matthews and Henry Marshall Steven. He died suddenly on 17 June 1966.

Family

In 1938 he married Queenie Louise Smith.

Publications

*'' The Scandinavian World'' (1958) *''Geography: Our Earth and Its Peoples'' (1967) *''Railways and Geography'' (1971) *''The Railways of Scotland''

References

1909 births 1966 deaths Scottish geographers Alumni of the University of London Academics of the University of Aberdeen Scottish non-fiction writers Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh People educated at Westminster City School Transvaal Colony people Scottish people of the British Empire Railway historians People associated with the University of Aberdeen People educated at Westminster School, London Historians of Scotland 20th-century British geographers 20th-century Scottish antiquarians {{geographer-stub