Hugh Robert Mill | |
|---|---|
| Born | 28 May 1861  |
| Died | 5 April 1950 (aged 88) |
Hugh Robert MillFRSE FRGS (28 May 1861 – 5 April 1950) was a Britishgeographer andmeteorologist who was influential in the reform of geography teaching, and in the development of meteorology as a science.[1] He was President of theRoyal Meteorological Society for 1907/8, and President of the Geographical Association in 1932.
He was born inThurso,[2] the son of Dr James Mill.[3]
He was educated locally then studied Sciences at theUniversity of Edinburgh, graduating in 1883. In 1884 he was appointed chemist and physicist to the Scottish marine station, and in 1887 became a lecturer for the university extension movement, being at the same time (1893-9) recorder of the geographical section of theBritish Association. He became president of the geographical section in 1901. In 1892 he was appointed librarian to theRoyal Geographical Society inLondon. From 1902 to 1906, he was honorary secretary of theRoyal Meteorological Society, and became its president in 1907.[2]
In 1890 he lived on Braid Road in south Edinburgh.[4]
Mill served on many committees connected with meteorology and allied subjects, including the International Council for the study of the sea (1901-8), and theBoard of Trade committee on the water power of the British Isles (1918). In 1901, he became director of the British Rainfall Organization, and editor ofBritish Rainfall andSymons's Meteorological Magazine. When the British Rainfall Organization was converted into a trust in 1910, he became chairman of trustees, a position from which he retired in 1919. From 1906 to 1919 he was rainfall expert to theMetropolitan Water Board.[2]
In 1885 he was elected a Fellow of theRoyal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers wereSir John Murray,Alexander Buchan,David Milne Home andPeter Guthrie Tait. He won the Society's Makdougall Brisbane Prize for the period 1890-92.[5] In November 1891 he was elected a Fellow of theRoyal Geographical Society.[6]
He held the post of secretary to the Royal Geographical Society during the Society's involvement with the leading BritishAntarctic expeditions of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was a friend and confidant toScott,Shackleton, and especially toWilliam Speirs Bruce, who led theScottish National Antarctic Expedition, 1902–04. He initiated Bruce's move from medicine to polar research by recommending him to theDundee Whaling Expedition to the Antarctic, 1892–93, and to otherArctic expeditions.[7] In 1923 he produced the first full-length biography of Shackleton.
Mill received thehonorary degreeDoctor of laws (LL.D.) from theUniversity of St Andrews in 1900.[8] He received theVictoria Medal of theRoyal Geographical Society (1915), the Symons Medal of theRoyal Meteorological Society (1918),[2] theGold Medal of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society (1924)[9] and theCullum Geographical Medal (1929) of theAmerican Geographical Society. In 1885, he was elected fellow of theRoyal Society of Edinburgh,[10] and in 1936, he was elected member of theAcademy of Sciences Leopoldina.[11]
He is commemorated in the naming of theMill Glacier, a branch of theBeardmore Glacier at85°10′S168°30′E / 85.167°S 168.500°E /-85.167; 168.500.
He was married twice: in 1889 to Frances McDonald; and in 1937 to Alfreda Dransfield.
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