Lindsay, James Ludovic, 26th Earl of Crawford, 9th Earl of Balcarres (1847 -1913)

James Ludovic Lindsay was the was the son of Alexander the 25th Earl of Crawford, and Margaret Lindsay, daughter of Lieutenant-General James Lindsay. From an early age he developed a keen interest in astronomy, and with his father, built an observatory on the family estate at Dun Echt, Aberdeenshire. Lindsay mounted expeditions to Cadiz in 1870, to observe the eclipse of the sun; and then to Mauritius in 1874, to observe the transit of Venus. When the Edinburgh Royal Observatory was threatened with closure, in 1888 Lindsay made a donation of astronomical instruments and around 15,000 books on mathematics and the physical sciences from the celebrated family library, the Bibliotheca Lindesiana, at Haigh Hall, Lancashire. in order that a new observatory could be founded. Thanks to this donation, the new Royal Observatory, Edinburgh was opened on Blackford Hill in 1896. James Ludovic was also a keen philatelist, and formed a large collection of philatelic literature, that was eventually given to the Philatelic Section of the British Library. The Crawford Medal was established by the Royal Philatelic Society London in Lindsay's honour for distinguished contributions to philately. He was also Conservative Member of Parliament for Wigan from 1874 until 1880, when he succeeded to his father’s title and estates.