Family
Brewster married twice. His first wife, Juliet Macpherson (c. 1776–1850), was a daughter of James Macpherson (1736–1796), a probable translator of Ossian poems. They married on 31 July 1810 in Edinburgh and had four sons and a daughter:
- James (1812–)
- Charles Macpherson (1813–1828), drowned.
- David Edward Brewster (17 August 1815 –) became a military officer (Lieutenant Colonel) serving in India.
- Henry Craigie (1816–) became a photographer.
- Margaret Maria Gordon (1823–1907) wrote a book on Brewster, which is considered the most comprehensive description of his life.
Brewster married second time in Nice, on 26 (or 27) March 1857, to Jane Kirk Purnell (b. 1827), the second daughter of Thomas Purnell of Scarborough. Brewster died in 1868, and was buried at Melrose Abbey, next to his first wife and second son. The physics building at Heriot-Watt University is named in his honour.
Read more about this topic: David Brewster
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