James Stedman Dixon (8 January 1845 – 18 July 1911) was a leading Scottish coal-mine owner, president of the Mining Institute of Scotland and of the Institution of Mining Engineers of Great Britain, and founder of the James S. Dixon Chair of Applied Geology in the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

Early life and education

James Stedman Dixon was born at Glasgow on 8 January 1845, son of stockbroker Peter Watson Dixon and Jane Dow. The family moving to Hamilton in 1850, James Dixon attended the prestigious

Hamilton Academy Hamilton Academy was a Boarding school, boarding and day school in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It was founded in 1588 as a boy's school and was open for nearly four centuries. In the late 19th century, ...

school, later attending classes in engineering at the

under Professor Macquorn Rankine.University of Strathclyde archive. Who’s Who in Glasgow 1909. James Stedman Dixon
Retrieved 30 December 2010

Career

Apprenticed in 1863 to George Simpson, mining engineer of Glasgow, Dixon was to be made a partner in the Simpson firm in 1869, and on George Simpson's death in 1871, took over the whole business. In the following year, Dixon started the Bent Colliery Company which was to become the largest mining operation in the Hamilton area. In 1890 Dixon expanded his interests by acquiring the mining division of James Dunlop and Co., of

Clyde Iron Works The Clyde Iron Works was a Scottish-based ironworking plant which operated from 1786 to 1978. Clyde Iron occupied a large site near the Carmyle and Tollcross areas of Glasgow. The plant was built by William Cadell (1737–1819) and Thomas Edin ...

, subsequently giving up his engineering business to concentrate on his mining interests which between them were producing some 1,250,000 tons of mined coal per annum. By 1898 his Bent Colliery business having greatly increased, Dixon was able to give up his interest in the Dunlop concern to concentrate on other interests, becoming chairman of the Broxburn Oil Company and a director of both the Edinburgh Colliery Company and the Plean Colliery, among other business concerns.

Appointments and interests

Dixon was twice elected to serve as President of the Lanarkshire Coalmasters' Association, and was to become the first President of the Coalmasters' Insurance Association, formed as a result of the requirements of the Workmen's Compensation Act. He was later to serve (twice) as president of the Mining Institute of Scotland (eventually through mergers becoming in 2002 the

Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) is a British engineering institution with activities including promotion of the development of materials science. It has been a registered charity governed by a royal charter and a member ...

), and as President of the Institution of Mining Engineers of Great Britain; and was appointed to the Royal Commission on Coal Supplies. In 1902 Dixon endowed a Lectureship in Mining Engineering in the

increasing this endowment in 1907 to found the James S. Dixon Chair of Mining, appointments being made jointly between the University of Glasgow and the Royal Technical College (renamed in 1956 the

Royal College of Science and Technology The Royal College of Science and Technology was a higher education college that existed in Glasgow, Scotland between 1887 and 1964. Tracing its history back to the Andersonian Institute (founded in 1796), it is the direct predecessor instituti ...

and in 1964 becoming the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde () is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal charter in 1964 as the first techn ...

). In 1932, another notable former pupil of

, Andrew Bryan was appointed to this chair, as Professor of Mining. The founding ordnance being repealed in 1980, in 1989 the funds were relocated to found the present James S. Dixon Chair of Applied Geology in the University of Glasgow. For his services to education, James Dixon was awarded the degree of LLD by the university. In addition, Dixon founded the Dr. James S. Dixon Bursary in Mining Engineering for pupils in technical subjects at

, to assist them in attending the University of Glasgow, Faculty of Engineering. As a university benefactor, James Stedman Dixon is formally remembered annually on Glasgow University's Commemoration Day. A leading member of the Conservative Party in Lanarkshire, Dixon twice served as President of North-East Lanarkshire Conservative Association, in addition to his appointments as a J.P. and Income Tax Commissioner for Lanarkshire. Married to Isabella Douglas in 1883, the couple had no children. James Stedman Dixon died at his home, Fairleigh, in

Bothwell Bothwell () is a Protected area, conservation village in the South Lanarkshire council area of Scotland and part of the Greater Glasgow area. It lies on the north bank of the River Clyde, adjacent to Uddingston and Hamilton, Scotland, Hamilton, ...

, South Lanarkshire, on 18 July 1911.Institution of Mining Engineers of Great Britain. Transactions, volume 42, page 47 – obituary James Stedman Dixon
Retrieved 30 December 2010

References

External links

Mining Institute of ScotlandInstitute of Materials, Minerals and MiningHistoric Hamilton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dixon, James Stedman 1845 births 1911 deaths People educated at Hamilton Academy Alumni of the University of Glasgow Scottish engineers Scottish mining engineers People from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire 19th-century Scottish businesspeople