Frederick Pattison Pullar

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 so ...

FRGS FRSGS (20 January 1875–16 February 1901) was a 19th century Scottish meteorologist who served as Sir John Murray's right-hand for his short career. He is often referred to simply as Fred Pullar.

Life

He was born in Bridge of Allan near

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 its me ...

on 20 January 1875 the son of the industrialist Laurence Pullar and his wife, Ellen Ferguson Pattison. He was educated at Stanley House School at Bridge of Allan then at the High School in Stirling. He then attended the West of Scotland Technical College in Glasgow. Around 1893 he entered the family firm of Pullars of Perth founded by his grandfather,

John Pullar John Pullar (22 April 1803 – 16 December 1878) was a 19th-century Scottish businessman, and founder of J. Pullar and Sons (later J & J Pullar Ltd and Pullars of Perth). He went into local politics in later life, becoming Provost of Perth. He ...

, in the 1820s. In 1897 Frederick's father Laurence Pullar commissioned his friend, Sir John Murray to undertake an entire survey of all Scottish fresh water lochs. This was on condition that Sir John employed his then 22 year old son Frederick to assist in the task. However, Frederick, although having no formal university training, proved more than competent in this role. Frederick and Sir John spent over three years together, surveying 15 lochs beginning with

Loch Lubnaig Loch Lubnaig (Loch Lùbnaig in Gaelic) is a small freshwater loch near Callander in the Stirling council area, Scottish Highlands. It lies in the former county of Perthshire. It is part of the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. The ...

. In this they utilised a device known as Pullar's Sounding Machine. The sounding machine appears to have been named after the father, rather than Frederick, the father having undertaken his own highly competent bathymetrical surveys from at least 1885. In 1901 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 Sir John Murray, Alexander Buchan, Robert Munro and John Horne. On 15 February 1901 he was skating with several hundred people on Airthrey Loch in front of Airthrey Castle, when the ice gave way. Accounts related that Pullar rescued three people and returned to rescue a young woman. Both he and the woman drowned; he was 26 years old. He is buried in Logie Churchyard, just east of Stirling. The memorial stands east of the church and was commissioned by his parents from the sculptor George Frampton. They were later buried beside him. The results of his work and his measuring device brought about the publication of the ''Bathymetrical Survey of the Fresh Water Lochs of Scotland'' in 1910. Airthrey Loch now forms a focal point within the grounds of

Stirling University The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built ...

Family

His uncles included James Frederick Pullar and Sir

Robert Pullar Sir Robert Pullar (18 February 1828 – 9 September 1912) was a Scottish Liberal Party politician in the United Kingdom. Life Pullar was born at Burt's Close in Perth on 18 February 1828, the eldest of nine children of John Pullar (1803-1878) ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pullar, Frederick Pattison 1875 births 1901 deaths Scottish meteorologists Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Deaths by drowning in the United Kingdom