The grave of John Steggall, Western Cemetery, Dundee

Prof John Edward Aloysius Steggall ARIBA

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 soc ...

LLD (1855–1935) was an English

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History O ...

and professor at the University College, Dundee (now

University of Dundee , mottoeng = "My soul doth magnify the Lord" , established = 1967 – gained independent university status by Royal Charter1897 – Constituent college of the University of St Andrews1881 – University College , ...

Life and work

He was born on 19 November 1855 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

, the son of Dr J W B Steggall of Charing Cross Hospital, a physician and surgeon, living at Queen Square in

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mu ...

. He attended the City of London School before entering

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, where he graduated second wrangler in the

Mathematical Tripos The Mathematical Tripos is the mathematics course that is taught in the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. It is the oldest Tripos examined at the University. Origin In its classical nineteenth-century form, the tripos was ...

of 1878 and winning the

Smith's Prize The Smith's Prize was the name of each of two prizes awarded annually to two research students in mathematics and theoretical physics at the University of Cambridge from 1769. Following the reorganization in 1998, they are now awarded under the ...

of that year. He taught as Assistant Master at

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , hea ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

from 1878-1879, before becoming Fielden Lecturer at

Owens College Owens may refer to: Places in the United States *Owens Station, Delaware * Owens Township, St. Louis County, Minnesota *Owens, Missouri *Owens, Ohio *Owens, Virginia People * Owens (surname), including a list of people with the name * Owens Br ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

, from 1880 to 1882. In 1883 he was appointed as the Chair of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy (Physics) in the newly instituted University College at Dundee. He lived at "Woodend" in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. In 1885 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 Balfour Stewart,

William Evans Hoyle Dr William Evans Hoyle FRSE (28 January 1855 – 7 February 1926) was a noted British zoologist. A specialist in deep sea creatures he worked on classification and illustrations from the Challenger Expedition from 1882 to 1888. Life Hoyle w ...

Patrick Geddes Sir Patrick Geddes (2 October 1854 – 17 April 1932) was a British biologist, sociologist, Comtean positivist, geographer, philanthropist and pioneering town planner. He is known for his innovative thinking in the fields of urban planning ...

and

Peter Guthrie Tait Peter Guthrie Tait FRSE (28 April 1831 – 4 July 1901) was a Scottish mathematical physicist and early pioneer in thermodynamics. He is best known for the mathematical physics textbook '' Treatise on Natural Philosophy'', which he co-wrote ...

. He resigned temporarily and was re-elected in 1914, his proposers being

Cargill Gilston Knott Cargill Gilston Knott FRS, FRSE LLD (30 June 1856 – 26 October 1922) was a Scottish physicist and mathematician who was a pioneer in seismological research. He spent his early career in Japan. He later became a Fellow of the Royal Society, ...

, Sir

Edmund Taylor Whittaker Sir Edmund Taylor Whittaker (24 October 1873 – 24 March 1956) was a British mathematician, physicist, and historian of science. Whittaker was a leading mathematical scholar of the early 20th-century who contributed widely to applied mathema ...

, Sir

Ernest Wedderburn Sir Ernest MacLagan Wedderburn (3 February 1884 – 3 June 1958) was a Scottish lawyer, and a significant figure both in the civic life of Edinburgh and in the legal establishment. He held the posts of Professor of Conveyancing in the Universi ...

and

Ellice Horsburgh Dr Ellice Martin Horsburgh FRSE AMICE (1870 – 28 December 1935) was a Scottish mathematician and engineer. He was an expert on numismatics and a skilled photographer. Life He was born in Kelso in 1870, the son of Ellen Sarah Vost and the Re ...

. He remained at Dundee University until 1933 when he retired after completing fifty years of professional work. St Andrews University (which at that time controlled Dundee University) awarded him an honorary doctorate (LLD) on his retiral. Steggall was an active member of the

Association for the Improvement of Geometrical Teaching The Mathematical Association is a professional society concerned with mathematics education in the UK. History It was founded in 1871 as the Association for the Improvement of Geometrical Teaching and renamed to the Mathematical Association in ...

and member of the Dundee School Board. As an enthusiastic traveler and skilled amateur photographer, he traveled widely in Europe; his photographic collection is preserved in the library of the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

. He died in Dundee on 26 November 1935 a few days after his 80th birthday. He is buried in the

Western Cemetery, Dundee The Western Cemetery in Dundee, Scotland, is a still-operational cemetery founded in the mid 19th century. It rises northwards from the Perth Road, with terraces in its upper sections. It views over the Firth of Tay to the Tay Rail Bridge a ...

. The grave lies on the western wall on the lower section. A keen photographer he left a collection of over 2000 photographs to

St Andrews University (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

Family

In 1878 he married Isabella Katherine Frazer (d.1945), sister of

James George Frazer Sir James George Frazer (; 1 January 1854 – 7 May 1941) was a Scottish social anthropologist and folklorist influential in the early stages of the modern studies of mythology and comparative religion. Personal life He was born on 1 Janu ...

. Their only son, John William Abbot Steggall, was killed on 31 May 1916 serving on HMS Invincible on the first day of the

Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland (german: Skagerrakschlacht, the Battle of the Skagerrak) was a naval battle fought between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet, under Vice-Ad ...

References

Bibliography

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External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Steggall, John Edward Aloysius 19th-century British mathematicians Associates of the Royal Institute of British Architects Academics of the University of Dundee 20th-century British mathematicians 1855 births 1935 deaths