James Blackwood

Although born in the same year as James Thomson (1823), James Blackwood came from a different background - his family were relatively rich. After being educated at Kilmarnock Academy he went to Aberdeen and started a photographic business. Returning to Kilmarnock about 1860 he set up business in carpet manufacturing and later became managing partner of the Holm Foundry. By 1866 he was Town Councillor and in 1869 he was elected a magistrate. He played a large part in the establishment of both the New Academy and the Infirmary in the town.
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Despite all these public duties he became an accomplished scientist. He was especially interested in geology and for his studies he built a microscope and rock sectioning equipment - the latter produced thin sections of rock which were so thin as to be transparent. In 1884 he was asked to become an Honorary Member of the  Glenfield Ramblers, which he gladly did. 

From his earliest days, Blackwood had been a pioneer in the subject of optics, electric light and photography, often lecturing on these subjects. It is no surprise that it was he who, in 1863, set up the first electric light in Kilmarnock in an upper room overlooking the Cross. 

Described as second only to his great friend Dr. Heddle as a mineralogist the Blackwood collection is in three parts: minerals and rocks, predominantly Scottish; A microscope slide collection; and a collection of Carboniferous fossils, especially strong in brachiopods. James Blackwood died in 1893 and his collection now makes up a large part of the Natural Sciences Collection held by East Ayrshire Council. 

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Hildoceras Bifrons
Ammonites like this lived in the Jurassic period.  They belong to a group of animals known as Cephal
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Calymene Blumenbachii (1)
This trilobite has rolled up into a ball.  These were little marine creatures which looked a little
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Calymene Blumenbachii
This is a tiny fossil trilobite, only about 2cm long, from the Silurian period.
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Shark Teeth
The serated edges that these teeth have can be seen most clearly on the one on the far left.  They a
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Ophioderma egertoni
Brittlestars have not changed much in appearance for millions of years, this fossil looks very simil
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Fossilised Fern
Much of Ayrshire's industrial heritage is based on the coal seams that lie under a large part of the
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James Blackwood's Walking Stick
This walking stick was presented to Blackwood by the Kilmarnock Glenfield Ramblers in 1890.
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Echinoderma Crinoidea
Crinoids, although resembling plants, were in fact little marine animals.  Only partial crinoids are
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