Dr Robert Kidston, FRS

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 s ...

LLD (29 June 1852 – 13 July 1924) was a Scottish

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

and palaeobotanist.

Life

He was born in Bishopton House in

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renf ...

on 29 June 1852 the youngest of twelve children of Robert Alexander Kidston, a

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

businessman, and his wife, Mary Anne Meigh. He was educated at the High School in

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with ...

. He studied

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in ...

and later studied the

Rhynie chert The Rhynie chert is a Lower Devonian sedimentary deposit exhibiting extraordinary fossil detail or completeness (a Lagerstätte). It is exposed near the village of Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland; a second unit, the Windyfield chert, is locat ...

and worked for the

British Geological Survey The British Geological Survey (BGS) is a partly publicly funded body which aims to advance geoscientific knowledge of the United Kingdom landmass and its continental shelf by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research. The BGS hea ...

. Kidston was "arguably the best and most influential palaeobotanist of his day. In over 180 scientific papers he laid the foundations for a modern understanding of the taxonomy and palaeobiology of Devonian and Carboniferous plants." The Prime Minister

Bonar Law Andrew Bonar Law ( ; 16 September 1858 – 30 October 1923) was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1922 to May 1923. Law was born in the British colony of New Brunswick (now ...

was his first cousin. In the 1880s Kidston was asked to catalogue the Palaeozoic plant collection of the British Museum (Natural History). This work began in February 1883, and was completed in 1886. In 1886, 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 Alexander Dikson, John Duns, Sir John Murray, and Robert Gray. He served as the Society's Secretary 1909 to 1916 and as Vice President 1917 to 1920. He uniquely won the Society's Neill Prize twice: 1886-1889 and 1915-17. He received an honorary doctorate (LLD) from

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

in 1908 and a second doctorate (DSc) from

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The university owns and operates majo ...

in 1921. He died whilst visiting his friend David Davies in

Gilfach Goch Gilfach Goch is a community, electoral ward and small former coal mining village mostly in the Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, south Wales, near the larger community of Tonyrefail. Some areas in the North Western part of the village lie within Brid ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

on 13 July 1924. He is buried with his family in Logie Churchyard near Stirling.

Family

For most of his life he lived with his three unmarried sister in a house on Victoria Place in Stirling. In 1898 he married Agnes Marion Christian Oliphant (d.1950), twenty years his junior. They had two daughters, Hannah and Marjory. They lived in a large house at 12 Clarendon Place in Stirling with several servants.

Awards

He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathematic ...

(FRS) in June 1902, and won the Murchison Medal of the

Geological Society of London The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

in 1916. He was awarded two gold medals for photography. The medals and a 4000 strong collection of glass negatives were presented to the Geological Survey by his grandson, Geoffrey Wilkinson, in 2007.

Publications

*''Flora of the Carboniferous Period'' *''Catalogue of the Palaeozoic Plants in the British Museum''

Botanical Reference

References

External links

Christine A. Thomson and Ian P. Wilkinson, "Robert Kidston (1852-1924): a biography of a Scottish Palaeobotanist", British Geological Survey, Nottingham, NG12 5GG. On line (.pdf)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kidston, Robert 1852 births 1924 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society Paleobotanists Alumni of the University of Edinburgh

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, ho ...