James Croll was born in 1821 into poverty at Little Whitefield, near Wolfhill, Perthshire, around 10 miles from Blairgowrie. In 1864 James Croll’s paper ‘On the Physical Cause of the Change of Climate during Glacial Epochs’ was published in the Philosophical Magazine. Global recognition followed the publication of his book ‘Climate and Time’ in 1875.

He was the second of four children born to David Croll, a stonemason, and Janet Geddes. When he was around three years old, his family  became victims of the Clearances, when the landowner Lord Willoughby evicted his tenants from his land. 

All his life James suffered from ill health and being unable to attend school, was taught at first by his elder brother Alexander, who would teach James what he had learned in school. When Alexander died aged 10, James attended school in Guildtown, but by the age of 13 he left school to work on the family croft.

His interest in science is thought to have been sparked by a copy of the Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, a monthly publication. Over the years James tried to earn a living at a variety of jobs, including joinery and, in the 1850s, along with his wife Isabella MacDonald, he ran a Temperance Hotel in Leslie Street, Blairgowrie. This business venture was short lived.

At the age of 38 he took up the post of janitor at Anderson College in Glasgow. This proved to be a turning point in his life, as he now had access to scientific texts. In 1864 James Croll’s paper ‘On the Physical Cause of the Change of Climate during Glacial Epochs’ was published in the Philosophical Magazine.

Global recognition followed the publication of his book ‘Climate and Time’ in 1875, and he was made a Fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, an honorary member of the New York Academy of Sciences and awarded an honorary degree by the University of St Andrews. 

James Croll corresponded with some of the contemporary science heavyweights like Charles Darwin, Lord Kelvin and Charles Lyell. 

The YouTube video ‘Roy Thompson on James Croll – Social Responsibility and Sustainability’ includes an 1868 photo of the Scottish Geological Survey Staff. Alongside James Croll are James and Archibald Geikie, John Horne, C.R. Campbell, Benjamin Neeve Peach, Duncan Robertson Irvine, T.M. Skae, Robert Logan Jack and Edward Hull.        

Shortly after the publication of his book ‘The Philosophical Basis of Evolution’ James Croll died on 15 December 1890 aged 69 at 5 Pitcullen Crescent, Perth.

It had been thought that James Croll was buried in an unmarked pauper’s grave. However, in 2016, his grave was found in Cargill Kirkyard with a Headstone which shows he was buried with his Grandparents, parents, siblings and his wife.

For more information visit:

https://wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Croll

The Royal Scottish Geographical Society has published 'James Croll and his Adventures in Climate and Time' to mark the bicentenary of his birth and to bring attention to his work in the run up to COP26.  Copies of the book can be found at www.rsgs.org for £10.