Author: Headrick, James
Biography:
HEADRICK, James (1759-1841)
pseudonym GIBE
Born at Logie, Stirlingshire, probably in 1759 (his baptism is recorded in March of that year), he was the son of John Headrick, a farmer, and Isabel (Neilson) Headrick. He attended the local parish school, a school in Dunblane, and Glasgow University. Although he did not graduate from university, he studied for the ministry and was licensed in 1786. His passion for natural science led him to work with Sir John Sinclair, and the board of agriculture published his Essay on Manures in 1796. He married Katherine Macbeth in 1804 and had five sons (although at least two of these were illegitimate). Headrick was relentless in his quest for preferment and often disappointed; his angry lampoon Peep into the Convent of Clutha was composed when he failed to be appointed to the chair of natural philosophy at Glasgow University. He was eventually named minister to the church in Dunnichen, Forfarshire, only to find a decaying manse and his annual stipend under a legal challenge from the previous minister’s family. Headrick did, however, succeed in publishing substantial geological studies. He died at the Dunnichen manse and is buried in the churchyard. (ODNB 21 Feb. 2019) SR