Dr Robert Meldrum Craig

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 (13 July 1882 – 28 March 1956) was a prominent Scottish geologist and academic author. He left a large collection of fossils now housed in the collection of the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

Life

He was born on 13 July 1882 in

Ardentinny Ardentinny () is a small village on the western shore of Loch Long, north of Dunoon in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. Nearby is Cruach a Chaise (Cheese Hill). On the opposite side of Loch Long is the village of Coulport, home of RNAD Coulport, ...

Argyllshire Argyll (; archaically Argyle; , ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. The county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975 and most of the area now forms part of ...

in northern

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, the son of Rev Robert Craig, the local minister. His younger brother John Douglas Craig grew to fame as a classicist. He was schooled at the local parish school and then attended Madras College in the

. James Manson Craig, Professor of English at the University of St Andrews was also his brother. Several other brothers grew to fame in the military: Brigade Major Henry David Cook Craig MC; Lt Falconer Gray Craig MC; Cpt Archibald Douglas Craig. Joseph Murison Craig became a surgeon, and his sister Constance Craig became a missionary in China. In 1909 he began lecturing in Geology at Dundee, then a branch of the University of St Andrews, moving to St Andrews in 1912. In 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 ...

he served first in the

Durham Light Infantry The Durham Light Infantry (DLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1968. It was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 68th (Durham) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) and ...

then in the 5th South Staffordshire Regiment (rising to the rank of Captain). From 1918 to 1921 he acted as the Government Geologist to

Nyasaland Nyasaland () was a British protectorate in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. After ...

in Africa. He then received a professorship 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 ...

and remained there from 1921 until retiral, lecturing in economic geology. In 1931 he gained a DSc, on the geology of Harris and Lewis, from the University. 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 ...

in 1925. His proposers were Thomas James Jehu,

John Horne John Horne PRSE FRS FRSE FEGS LLD (1 January 1848 – 30 May 1928) was a Scottish geologist. He served as president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh from 1915 to 1919. Life Horne was born on 1 January 1848, in Campsie, Stirlingshire, the ...

, Ben Peach, and Robert Campbell. He won the Society’s Keith Medal for 1925-27. He served as a President of the Edinburgh Geological Society 1934-6 and Trustee from 1939 to 1948. He died on 28 March 1956.

Publications

See *''Structural and Field Geology'' *''Outline of the Geology of Prince Charles Foreland'' *''Geology and Scenery of the Hebrides'' *''Geology of the Outer Hebrides: Barra'' (co-written with Thomas James Jehu)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Craig, Robert Meldrum 1882 births 1956 deaths Scottish geologists Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh