At Glasgow University, the Macfarlane Observatory was established in 1757 with instruments donated by Alexander Macfarlane, a merchant in Jamaica. The instruments arrived to Glasgow in a deteriorated condition, and their suitability for mounting was in question before they were taken in hand by James Watt. Watt had been trained in London and upon returning to Glasgow served as instrument maker to the university. The benefactor Alexander Macfarlane had graduated MA from the university in 1728. Beyond his successful commercial career in Jamaica, he was an assistant judge and a member of the Legislative Assembly of Jamaica. Macfarlane purchased the astronomical instruments of Colin Campbell after 1742. Macfarlane died in 1755. A portrait and biographical note appear on a Glasgow University s