Alexander Scott, 1853-1947

Abstract BIOGRAPHICAL It has been found convenient to separate the more purely biographical matter from descriptions of scientific work. The biographical portion of this Notice is divided as follows, and reference may be made to these divisions in that portion which deals with Scott’s published work:— I. Home and boyhood, 1853-1868. II. At Edinburgh University, 1868-1875. III. At Cambridge University (first period), 1875-1884. IV. At Durham School, 1884-1891. V. At Cambridge University (second period), 1891-1896. VI. At Davy-Faraday Laboratory, 1896-1911. VII. Period 1911-1919. VIII. At British Museum, 1919-1938 (by Dr H. J. Plenderleith). I. Home and Boyhood, 1853-1868 On 10 March 1947, at the great age of ninety-three, Dr Alexander Scott, inorganic chemist, died at Ringwood, Hampshire. He was born in the county town of Selkirk on 28 December 1853, the son of Alexander Scott and the eldest of a family of four sons and four daughters, some of whom are now living. The family appears to have migrated from the Scott Border country, for there are records of forebears being settled in Fife, in Kilconquhar or its neighbourhood, in the middle of the eighteenth century, evidently as farmers. It was thus a return to the Scott country that the father of the subject of this Notice made when he was appointed Rector of Selkirk Academy in 1851, a post he held for thirty-three years. Token of his success as a teacher is given by a resolution of the School Board in 1884, the year of his death, in which his high personal character and eminent qualifications as a teacher are praised. He was also Kirk Session Clerk for twenty-eight years and an Elder for nine. To a testimonial in 1883, one hundred and sixty-five of his former pupils put their names and among these is Andrew Lang, who was Selkirk-born. A contemporary document also expresses the thanks of the Selkirk Mechanics’ Institute for Mr Scott’s work in promoting its prosperity by managing its library and arranging for lectures to the members, over a period of twenty-four years as Secretary.