James Powrie, chronicler of the Scottish Lower Devonian

James Powrie (1815–1895) was an important figure in the early history of Scottish geology and palaeoichthyology. Powrie first described, what were in his day, the earliest known articulated vertebrates and most of his descriptions still stand today. He collaborated and corresponded with prominent palaeontologists and zoologists of Victorian Britain but strangely, other than his published output, virtually nothing else was previously known about Powrie, and only an anonymous obituary in a local newspaper appeared on his death (Anonymous, 1895). This work collates the available information on Powrie based on the archives of the National Museum of Scotland, newly published correspondence and information from living relatives. This paper contains the first published photograph of James Powrie.