David Smiles Jerdan

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 Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(1871–1951) was a Scottish businessman and

horticulturist Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

Life

He was born on 12 July 1871 in Dennyloanhead in Stirlingshire in Central Scotland. His father was Rev Charles Jerdan, minister of St Michael Street Church in

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

. He graduated MA from

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

in 1892. He then did further postgraduate studies at the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

where he gained a PhD and Queen's College in Manchester, where he gained a DSc. He was Manager of J & G Cox Ltd, glue and gelatine manufacturers at

Gorgie Gorgie ( ) is a densely populated area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located to the west of the city centre, and borders Murrayfield, Ardmillan and Dalry, Edinburgh, Dalry. Name The name is thought to be British language (Celtic), Brythonic in ...

Mills in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. From here he moved to the linked trade of tanning, becoming Manager of the Tannerie Maroquinerie in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. He later returned to Scotland as Director of A & G Paterson Ltd timber merchants at 60 to 68 Tennant Street in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. In 1900, 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 Sir John Murray,

Alexander Crum Brown Alexander Crum Brown Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (26 March 1838 – 28 October 1922) was a Scottish Organic chemistry, organic chemist. Alexander Crum Brown Road in Edinburgh's King's Buildi ...

, Robert Irvine and John Gibson. He died on 5 December 1951. He is buried in the 20th century north extension to

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and o ...

in western

with his wife, KatherineMcLean Jerdan (1872–1936).

Publications

*''The Direct Union of Carbon and Hydrogen'' (1897) co-written with

William Arthur Bone William Arthur Bone, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (19 March 1871 – 11 June 1938) was a British fuel technologist and chemist. Biography Bone was born in Stockton-on-Tees, the son of Christopher Bone, a tea merchant, and his wife Mary Eliz ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jerdan, David Smiles 1871 births 1951 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Glasgow Scottish businesspeople Businesspeople in timber People from Falkirk (council area) Scottish horticulturists Heidelberg University alumni