Autobiographical sketch of James Croll ... : with memoir of his life and work / J.C. Irons.

  • James Croll
Date:
1896
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Autobiographical sketch of James Croll ... : with memoir of his life and work / J.C. Irons. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    LIFE OF JAMES CROLL —♦— AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH My ancestors, who spelled their name Croil, and some of them, it would seem, Croyl, were in- habitants of the parish of Cargill for at least more than the last two centuries; for I have been able, from the parish baptismal register, to trace my direct parentage back till about the middle of the seventeenth century, that is, as far back as the register extends. I was born at Little Whitefield, parish of Cargill, on Tuesday, January 2, 1821, at eleven o’clock P.M. It was a cold wintry night, with the snow lying thickly on the ground. I was the second of a family of four sons. My father David Croil, son of Alexander Croil, was born in March 1781, and was consequently forty years of age when I was born. He was a stonemason by trade. Little Whitefield, now a farmhouse, was then a small village of some eight or ten houses. Beside the village were a hundred or a hundred and fifty acres of land, divided principally amongst four of the villagers : namely, William Brewster, James Brown, William Marshall (I think), and my father. The village was demolished, and the land put into one farm, when I was about three years of age. My forefathers had resided at that village for several generations past. My mother, Janet Ellis, youngest
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