Alexander James Adie

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 ...

MWS (1775,

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 ...

– 4 December 1858, Edinburgh) was a Scottish maker of medical instruments, optician and meteorologist. He was the inventor of the sympiesometer, patented in 1818.

Life

The grave of Alexander James Adie, Greyfriars Kirkyard

He was born the son of John Adie. He was apprenticed in 1789 to his maternal uncle John Miller a mathematical instrument maker on Parliament Close, off the

Royal Mile The Royal Mile () is a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. The term was first used descriptively in W. M. Gilbert's ''Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century'' (1901), des ...

close to St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh. In 1800 Adie was working for Miller at 38 South Bridge and the business was described as an optician. Around 1805 went into business together as "Miller and Adie, Opticians" (also serving as mathematical instrument makers, but this was in much less demand) and had a shop at 15 Nicholson Street in the South Side which continued until 1822. After Miller died Adie opened his own shop at 58 Princes Street close to the Royal Scottish Academy. Adie supplied lenses to

Joseph Hooker Joseph Hooker (November 13, 1814 – October 31, 1879) was an American Civil War general for the Union, chiefly remembered for his decisive defeat by Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863. Hooker had serv ...

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

and

Sir David Brewster Sir David Brewster KH PRSE FRS FSA Scot FSSA MICE (11 December 178110 February 1868) was a British scientist, inventor, author, and academic administrator. In science he is principally remembered for his experimental work in physical optics ...

and was optician to William IV and to Queen Victoria. Adie invented the sympiesometer or marine barometer and had a small observatory erected long before there was a public observatory in Edinburgh. He was elected as Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh on 25 January 1819, upon the proposal of Lord Francis Gray,

and James Russell. Adie lived at 10

Regent Terrace Regent Terrace is a residential street of 34 classical 3-bay townhouses built on the upper south side of Calton Hill in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. Regent Terrace is within the Edinburgh New and Old Town UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed ...

, Edinburgh, from 1832 to 1838.Mitchell, Anne (1993), ''The People of Calton Hill'', Mercat Press, James Thin, Edinburgh, . His son John Adie

joined his firm around 1840 to create Adie & Son based at 50 Princes Street. He died at Caanan Lodge, in the Morningside district of Edinburgh (now demolished) in December 1858, and was interred in

Greyfriars Kirkyard Greyfriars Kirkyard is the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the southern edge of the Old Town, adjacent to George Heriot's School. Burials have been taking place since the late 16th century, and a num ...

. The grave lies to the south-west of the church, just to the north-east of the

Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

mausoleum. His daughter married the astronomer Thomas Henderson (1798–1844) who would certainly have met through the instrument making. Henderson is buried with Adie but is not listed on the memorial.

Alexander James Adie (railway engineer)

Adie's son was born at 11 Lothian Street in

's South Side on 16 December 1808 and also named Alexander James Adie after his father. He studied at the High School in Edinburgh and then

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted ...

before training as a civil engineer under James Jardine. In 1836 he became Resident Engineer on the Bolton, Chorley and Preston Railway. In 1863 he became Manager of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway. In February 1846 he followed in his father's footsteps and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh his proposer being

James David Forbes James David Forbes (1809–1868) was a Scottish physicist and glaciologist who worked extensively on the conduction of heat and seismology. Forbes was a resident of Edinburgh for most of his life, educated at its University and a professor ...

. At this time he was living at 50 Princes Street above his father's shop. In later life he lived at 7 St Andrews Square in Edinburgh (now demolished).Edinburgh Post Office directory 1868 He died at his home, Rockville near

Linlithgow Linlithgow (; gd, Gleann Iucha, sco, Lithgae) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It was historically West Lothian's county town, reflected in the county's historical name of Linlithgowshire. An ancient town, it lies in the Central Belt on a ...

, where he had retired to, on 3 April 1879. He is buried on the south side of St Michael's Church in Linlithgow.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adie, Alexander James 1775 births 1858 deaths 19th-century Scottish people Scottish inventors Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Scientists from Edinburgh British opticians Scottish meteorologists Scottish businesspeople Burials at Greyfriars Kirkyard Businesspeople from Edinburgh