Robert Douglas Lockhart (1894–1987) was a 20th-century Scottish anatomist. He served as president of the

Anatomical Society The Anatomical Society (AS), previously known as the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland or ASGBI was founded in London in 1887 to "promote, develop and advance research and education in all aspects of anatomical science". The society ...

of Great Britain and Ireland 1955–57. He was also the official Curator of the

Marischal Museum Marischal Museum was a museum in Aberdeen, Scotland, specialising in anthropology and artifacts from cultures around the world. The museum was a part of the University of Aberdeen, situated at Marischal College, a grand Gothic Revival architec ...

Life

He was born in

Hamilton, South Lanarkshire Hamilton (; ) is a large town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It serves as the main administrative centre of the South Lanarkshire council area. It sits south-east of Glasgow, south-west of Edinburgh and north of Carlisle. It is situated on t ...

on 7 January 1894 the son of William Lockhart, nurseryman, and his wife Elizabeth Bogie. The family moved to

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

in the early 20th century, his father being then employed as an auctioneer in the fruit and vegetable market. They lived at Craigiebuckler Cottage in the

Rubislaw Rubislaw is an area of Aberdeen, Scotland. It is located in the area between Queen's Road and King's Gate, including Rubislaw Den North and South. It is close to Rubislaw Quarry and the Rubislaw Playing Fields used by Aberdeen Grammar Schoo ...

district. Robert attended

Robert Gordon's College Robert Gordon's College is a co-educational private school for day pupils in Aberdeen, Scotland. The school caters for pupils from Nursery through to S6. History Background Robert Gordon, an Aberdeen merchant, made his fortune in 18th cent ...

then studied Medicine at

Aberdeen University The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen and Chancellor of Scotland, petitioned Pope Al ...

from 1913. His studies were interrupted by the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, where he served as a non-commissioned officer (NCO) with the title of Surgeon Probationer in the

Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original ...

. He graduated MB ChB from Aberdeen in 1918. He immediately began lecturing at the university. In 1931 he succeeded

James Couper Brash James Couper Brash, MC, FRCSE, FRSE (24 October 1886 in Cathcart – 19 January 1958 in Edinburgh) was a leading anatomist and embryologist in Britain. Early life and family James Couper Brash was born in Cathcart in Scotland, the son of ...

as Professor of Anatomy at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

. He took his then widowed mother to live with him there. In 1938 he succeeded Prof Alexander Low as Professor of Anatomy at

. Elizabeth Crosby came to work with him in 1939 and, due to war-time travel restrictions, unintentionally remained until 1941. In 1954 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 Edward Maitland Wright, John Stirling Young,

William Ogilvy Kermack William Ogilvy Kermack FRS FRSE FRIC (26 April 1898 – 20 July 1970) was a Scottish biochemist. He made mathematical studies of epidemic spread and established links between environmental factors and specified diseases. He is noteworthy for b ...

and

. He retired in 1965 but continued the role as Curator of Marischal Museum until 1979. He died at his home, 25 Rubislaw Den North, on 26 February 1987 aged 93. He never married and had no family. He left over £750,000 in his will, largely to scholarships and worthy causes, the bulk going to his alma mater

. A keen horticulturalist, having been trained by his nurseryman father, he created a new black-red

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...

, "Elizabeth Lockhart", in memory of his mother.

Publications

*''Living Anatomy'' (1948) *''Anatomy of the Human Body'' (1959)

Artistic recognition

His portrait by

Herbert James Gunn Sir Herbert James Gunn RA RP (30 June 1893– 30 December 1964) was a Scottish landscape and portrait painter. Early life Sir Herbert James Gunn (also known as Sir James Gunn) was born in Glasgow on 30 June 1893, the son of Richard Gunn, a dr ...

hangs in

Links

Portrait on Art UK

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lockhart, Robert Douglas 1894 births 1987 deaths People associated with Aberdeen People educated at Robert Gordon's College Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Academics of the University of Aberdeen British anatomists Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Presidents of the Anatomical Society