Dr James Phemister

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". ...

FGS FMS (3 April 1893 – 18 May 1986) was a 20th-century Scottish geologist.

Life

He was born in

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric: ''Gwovan''; Scots language, Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of southwest Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the sout ...

on 3 April 1893, the son of John Clark Phemister (b.1858) and his wife, Elizabeth Galbraith Crawford. He was the older brother to

Thomas Phemister Thomas Crawford Phemister (25 May 1902 – 30 December 1982) was a Scottish geologist. Life He was born in Glasgow, Scotland on 25 May 1902 the son of John Clark Phemister (b.1858) and his wife, Elizabeth Galbraith Crawford. He was the younger ...

. He studied mathematics, natural philosophy and geology at

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 ...

graduating MA BSc in 1915. His career was 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 the

Royal Garrison Artillery The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Artillery, Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse ...

. He was severely wounded in 1917. In 1921 he joined the British Geological Survey as a Geologist, mainly working in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...

. Between 1926 and 1929 he worked in Persia with W. F. P. McLintock, pioneering the use of the gravity torsion balance in oil exploration. In 1931 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

Murray Macgregor George Murray Macgregor FRSE (21 January 1884 – 21 January 1966) was a Scottish geologist. He was described as "Scotland's most eminent coalfield geologist." Life Macgregor was born in Glasgow to Agnes Murray and George Macgregor. He studied a ...

, Sir

John Smith Flett Sir John Smith Flett (26 June 1869 – 26 January 1947) was a Scottish physician and geologist. Early life Born in Kirkwall, Orkney, the son of James Ferguson Flett, a merchant and baillie, and Mary Ann (née Copland). He was educated at Kirkw ...

, W. F. P. McLintock and

Herbert Harold Read Herbert Harold Read Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS, Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE, Geological Society of London, FGS, (17 December 1889, in Whitstable – 29 March 1970) was a British geologist and Professor of Geology at Imperial Col ...

. He won the Society's

Neill Prize 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 ...

for the period 1959–61. In 1935 he moved to London as official Petrograher to HM Geological Survey. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he served with the government's Chemist Department, his roles including geological analysis of ballast within the

V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb ( "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry () name was Fieseler Fi 103 and its suggestive name was (hellhound). It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug a ...

to assess where it might have been launched. citing AVIA 22/2463 ''German flying bombs: reports'',

The National Archives National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention. Conceptual development From the Middle Ages i ...

, UK In 1946 he became Assistant Director to HM Geological Survey but gave up the post in 1953 in order to return to Edinburgh, working in the Grange Terrace office with Dr Walter Mykura. He died 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 ...

on 18 May 1986.

Family

He was married to Margaret Clark (d.1982). They had two sons and a daughter.

Selected publications

* The full text of the Third Edition of this work (1960) is available at * * *

References

External links

* 1893 births 1986 deaths People from Govan 20th-century British geologists Alumni of the University of Glasgow Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh British Army personnel of World War I Royal Garrison Artillery soldiers Military personnel from Glasgow {{UK-geologist-stub