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history |
James Wilson (1795-1856) was born at Paisley, the son of John Wilson, gauze manufacturer, and Margaret Sym. His father died before he was one and the family moved to Edinburgh where he was later to study for the law. However, his poor health did not allow him to pursue this and he turned instead to natural history. A notable early achievement was his arrangement of the Dufresne collection of birds, purchased in Paris, for the museum of Edinburgh University. In 1824 he married Isabella Keith (d. 1837) and settled at Woodville, near Edinburgh. With Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, he voyaged round Scotland in 1841, studying the natural history of the herring and its implications for the fishing industry; other trips were to follow between 1843 and 1850. In 1854 he was offered the chair of natural history at Edinburgh University but declined it. He was a prolific author; for fuller details of his life and works, see DNB, xxi, 570-1. His brother, John Wilson (1785-1854) was an author, the 'Christopher North' of 'Blackwood's Magazine;' his biographical details are also given in vol.xxi at 578-82.
James Alexander Russell (d.1918) was the son of the Reverend Alexander Russell, minister of the Free Church at Kildonan and Colintraive in Argyll. He gained first-class honours degrees in medicine and public health at Edinburgh University, areas which remained his principal interests throughout his professional and political lives. For a time he was assistant demonstrator in anatomy at Edinburgh to the Principal, Sir William Turner. Later, in 1880, he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and then one of its examiners and Government Inspector of Anatomy in Scotland. He was elected to Edinburgh town council in 1877 and was Lord Provost from 1891 to 1894. This period saw the reorganisation of the Fever Hospital as a public institution and various plans for clearing the slums of the city. Among other matters unrelated to public health, his tenure of office saw the construction of the new North Bridge. On completion of his term of office he was knighted; he also received the degree of LL D. |