Clergyman and scientist. Born and raised in Newburgh, Anderson studied at the University in St. Andrews and completed his training for the ministry in Edinburgh. Following his ordination, he returned to a parish in Newburgh. Anderson developed a reputation as an amateur geologist and, around 1859, discovered fossil fish at Dura Den in E Fife. Through lectures and scientific papers, he was responsible for bringing this important site to world attention. Elected a Fellow of the Geological Society of London, his works include The Course of Creation (1850) and Dura Den: A monograph of the Yellow Sandstone and its remarkable fossil remains (1859).
Anderson died in Nice (France), having gone their to convalesce. Examples of the fossil fish he discovered can be seen at the Bell-Pettigrew Museum of Natural History at the University of St. Andrews.
