Author: Beattie, James Hay
Biography:
BEATTIE, James Hay (1768-90: ODNB)
The son of James Beattie (q.v.) and Mary (Dun) Beattie, he was born at Aberdeen and educated at the Aberdeen grammar school and Marischal College (graduated MA 1786). His early life was shadowed by his mother’s mental illness and her eventual confinement to an institution. Through his father’s influence, he was named professor of moral philosophy at Marsischal College, with the plan of having him both assist and succeed to his ailing father; in the event he predeceased his father, dying of tuberculosis at Aberdeen. James Beattie edited the 1794 collection of his son’s work and contributed a memoir; however, at least some of the pieces in the collection were actually written by the father and only edited or revised by the son. (ODNB 28 Feb. 2018)