Elgin, Moray
James Croll was born in 1821 on the farm of Little Whitefield, near Wolfhill in Perthshire, Scotland, the son of David Croll, mason, and his wife Janet Geddes. He was largely self-educated. At 16 he became an apprentice wheelwright at Collace near Wolfhill, and then because of health problems a tea merchant in Elgin, Moray.