James Balfour Lockhart

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". ...

(1886–27 January 1969) was a Scottish mathematician and teacher. He was generally known as J. B. Lockhart or simply JBL. He was 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 ...

Life

He was born in

Cambuslang Cambuslang (, from ) is a town on the south-eastern outskirts of Greater Glasgow, Scotland. With approximately 30,000 residents, it is the 27th-largest town in Scotland by population, although, never having had a town hall, it may also be cons ...

in 1886. He was educated locally then studied for the civil service at

Skerry's College Skerry's College was a series of colleges which primarily prepared candidates for Civil Service examinations across the UK and Ireland. History 1878–1885 Skerry's College was inaugurated as a small training centre in Edinburgh in 1878 by Ge ...

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 1912 he decided to start studying mathematics and natural philosophy (physics) at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. 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 ...

, during which he served in Egypt and Gallipoli. He appears to have been a Private in the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was a specialist corps in the British Army which provided medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. On 15 November 2024, the corps was amalgamated with the Royal Army De ...

Returning to university after the war he graduated with first class honours also receiving the Napier Medal for best mathematician in 1920. After graduation he decided to stay in Edinburgh and began teaching at

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in Stockbridge, Edinburgh, Stockbridge, is now part of the Senior Scho ...

. In 1930 he became house-master of Dundas House, a boarding facility for the academy at 2 Kinnear Road. In 1932 he was elected a Fellow of the

. His proposers were Sir Edmund Taylor Whittaker,

Herbert Turnbull Herbert Westren Turnbull (31 August 1885 – 4 May 1961) was an English mathematician. From 1921 to 1950 he was Regius Professor of Mathematics at the University of St Andrews. Life He was born in the Tettenhall district, on the outskirts of ...

, Charles Barkla and Sir Charles Galton Darwin. In 1937 he moved to Inverleith Grove, and in 1940 took over as Head of Mathematics. In October 1950 he fell ill and in 1951 was forced to retire due to a heart condition. He died of complications following an operation on a broken leg in

Glenfarg Glenfarg (Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Fairg) is a village in the Ochil Hills in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Until 14 June 1964, the village had a railway station, Glenfarg railway station, on the Railways of Kinross#The Glenfarg Line, main line betw ...

Hospital on 27 January 1969. His wife died in July of the same year.

Family

He was happily married to Adie, whom he had met as a student at Skerrys College. Holidays were spent at his cottage in

Kingskettle Kingskettle or often simply Kettle is a village and parish in Fife, Scotland. Encompassed by the Howe of Fife, the village is approximately southwest of the nearest town, Cupar, and north of Edinburgh. According to the 2011 Census for Scotlan ...

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

. On his retirement they moved to Balmony, a cottage in Glendevon in southern Perthshire (now part of Clackmannanshire). His hobbies included bee-keeping.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lockhart, James Balfour 1886 births 1969 deaths People from Cambuslang Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British mathematicians Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh