Matthew Forster Heddle blue plaque

This blue commemorative plaque records: Matthew Forster Heddle, MD, 1828-1897 Lived here 1871-1897. Professor of Chemistry at St. Andrews (1862-1883). Born in Orkney, he studied medicine in Edinburgh and then chemistry and geology at Freiburg in Germany. He devoted much of his time to mineralogy and built up an impressive collection of Scottish minerals using sledge-hammers and dynamite. Part of the collection is held in the University of St. Andrews. He singlehandedly produced a geological map of Sutherland and he was a founder member of the "Mineralogical Society of Great Britain & Ireland" in 1876. His two-volume book "Mineralogy of Scotland" was published after his death. He is buried at the St. Andrews Cathedral graveyard.

Dr Matthew Forster Heddle was a prominent Scottish chemist and mineralogist who significantly contributed to the understanding of Scottish minerals through his extensive collection and research, culminating in his posthumously published "Mineralogy of Scotland." He also played a foundational role in establishing the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain & Ireland.