Robert Broom was born on November 30, 1866 at 66 Sneddon Street, Paisley, Scotland. His parents were John Broom and Agnes Hunter Shearer Broom. Robert's father John was for a time a designer of calico prints and Paisley shawls until the fashion changed and he then went into commerce, settling his family at Burnbridge, half-way between Glasgow and Edinburgh. As a cultured man, he had a wide knowledge of painting and English literature. Robert suffered from bronchitis and as a sickly child of six years old, he was sent to live with his grandmother at Millport. Robert soon met John Leavach, an eighty-three year old retired army officer who was an avid naturalist. Leavach introduced Robert to a microscope and marine life. Robert continued to use a microscope for over sixty years.
After Broom returned to
Burnbridge, he spent much time with his father, who was an enthusiastic botanist
by that time. Robert started spending time around Peter Cameron, a family
friend, who would become a great authority on Hymenoptera. It was his influence
that Robert Broom credits for sparking his interest and life long devotion to
natural history. He received his Masters
Degree in 1895 from the University of Glasgow.
In 1903 he became a Professor of Geology at
Broom
was first known for his study of mammal-like reptiles. After Raymond Dart’s discovery of the Taung child,
an infantile australopithecine, Broom’s interest in anthropology,
specifically paleoanthropology, was heightened. In 1934 Broom joined the staff
of the
It was during the years to follow when he made a succession of spectacular finds including fragments from six hominids in Sterkfontien, later classified as an adult australopithecine, as well as more discoveries at sites in Kromdraai and Swartkrans. In 1937, Broom made his most famous discovery- an Australopithecus Robustus. These discoveries helped support Dart’s claims for the Taung species. The remainder of Broom’s career was devoted to the exploration of these sites and the interpretation of the many early hominid remains discovered there.
Some of his publications:
The Mammal-like Reptiles of South Africa and the Origins of Mammals (1932)
The Coming of Man: Was it Accident or Design? (1933)
Finding the Missing Link (1950)
Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society, Vol. 8, No. 21 (Nov., 1952), pp. 36-70.
Delson, Eric; Ian
Tattersall and John Van Couvering. Encyclopedia of Human Evolution and
Prehistory.
Written by: Students in an Introduction to
Anthropology Class,
Edited by: Lillian Dolentz, 2008