George Coventry (minister)
George Coventry FRSE (1791–1872) was a Scottish minister of the Church of Scotland and amateur scientist.
Life[]
He was born on 5 April 1791 the eldest son of Prof Andrew Coventry and his wife. They lived at 29 Moray Place, a huge Georgian townhouse on the Moray Estate.[1] His mother Eliza Hastie died when he was six. His father remarried two years later to Martha Cunningham.
He trained as a minister in the Church of Scotland but there is no record of his ever having preached in a church. Given his great wealth it is likely that there was little incentive to work. He seems to have instead devoted himself to minor dabbling in the sciences.
In 1826 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposer was Dr George Bell, son of Benjamin Bell.[2]
In 1830 he was living at 11 Windsor Street in Edinburgh.[3] In that year his father died and he inherited the estate of Shanwell in Kinross-shire and other properties. He bought 49 Moray Place, a huge house close to his birthplace.[4]
He lived his later life at 33 Melville Street, a very large townhouse in Edinburgh's affluent West End.[5]
He died on 1 March 1872 and is buried in Dean Cemetery midway along the western wall in the section known as "lords Row".
Family[]
He was married to Jane Head (1798-1870).[6]
Their daughter Elizabeth married Major Alexander Pringle Scott-Moncrieff son of Robert Scott Moncrieff of Tullibole. They were parents to George Kenneth Scott-Moncrieff.
Artistic recognition[]
He was portrayed by John Moffat.[7]
References[]
- ^ Williamsons Post Office Directory 1791
- ^ Former Fellows of The Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783 – 2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 978-0-902198-84-5.
- ^ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1830
- ^ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1833
- ^ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1870
- ^ Grave of George Coventry, Dean Cemetery
- ^ "Rev. George Coventry, 1791 - 1872. Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh". National Galleries of Scotland.
- 1791 births
- 1872 deaths
- Scientists from Edinburgh
- Scottish landowners
- Burials at the Dean Cemetery
- Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
- 19th-century British businesspeople