Alexander Bryson

For the naval surgeon and medical writer, see Alexander Bryson (surgeon).

Alexander Bryson FRSE FGS FRSSA FSAScot FRPSE (12 October 1816 – 7 December 1866) was a Scottish biologist, geologist and horologist who served as president of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts (1860–61) and as president of the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh (1863).^[2]

Alexander Bryson
Born	12 October 1816 5 South Bridge, Edinburgh[1]
Died	7 December 1866 (1866-12-08) (aged 50) Hawkhill House, Edinburgh
Nationality	Scottish
Citizenship	United Kingdom
Alma mater	University of Edinburgh
Scientific career
Institutions	Partner, Robert Bryson & Sons, Clock and Watch-Maker, Edinburgh
Notes
Father: Robert Bryson

The Bryson family grave, New Calton Cemetery

Life

He was born on 12 October 1816 in Edinburgh, the son of Janet Gillespie (1788-1858) and Robert Bryson FRSE (1778-1852), a watchmaker.

He attended the High School in Edinburgh then trained as a watchmaker and entered the family business, then renamed Robert Bryson & Son.^[3]

With his first wife, Elizabeth Waterstone Gillespie (possibly a cousin) he had two children who died in infancy, and a daughter and son (William Alexander Bryson) and died 10 April 1855 aged 44.

His second wife, Catherine McDonald Cuthbertson, also died young in September 1859, aged 32. Together they had a son. With his third wife, Jane Thomson, he had another son, Leonard Horner Bryson, who survived him and remarried.

He was President of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 1860–1861. He was President of the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh in 1863. He was also a member of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh and the Edinburgh Geological Society.

In 1858 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He was President of the Royal Scottish Society of the Arts 1860–61.^[4]

He died on 7 December 1866 at Hawkhill House, a country villa between Leith and Edinburgh. He is buried in New Calton Cemetery with his two wives next to his parents.

Works

• On a Method of rendering Baily's Compensation Pendulum insensible to Hygrometric Influences (1854)
• On an improved method of preparing siliceous and other fossils for microscopic investigation: with a description of a new pneumatic chuck (1856)
• On a new method of measuring watch-glasses (1860)
• Memoir of Rev. John Fleming, D.D., F.R.S.E. (1861)
• Memoir of General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, G.C.B., & C. president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1861)
• Notes of a trip to Iceland in 1862 (1864)

References

1. "Obituary". The Scotsman.
2. Waterston, Charles D; Macmillan Shearer, A (July 2006). Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002: Biographical Index (PDF). Vol. I. Edinburgh: The Royal Society of Edinburgh. ISBN 978-0-902198-84-5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 October 2006. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
3. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 September 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
4. "RSSA: History: Past Presidents". Rssa.org.uk.