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The Chemical Society was a scientific society formed in 1841 (then named the Chemical Society of London) by 77 scientists as a result of increased interest in scientific matters.[1] Chemist Robert Warington was the driving force behind its creation.
One of the aims of the Chemical Society was to hold meetings for "the communication and discussion of discoveries and observations, an account of which shall be published by the Society". In 1847, its importance was recognised by a Royal Charter, which added to its role in the advancement of science, the development of chemical applications in industry. Its members included eminent chemists from overseas including August Wilhelm von Hofmann, who became its president in 1861. Membership was open to all those interested in chemistry, but fellowship was for long restricted to men.
In 1904, Edith Humphrey, thought to be the first British woman to gain a doctorate in chemistry (at the University of Zurich), was one of nineteen women chemists to petition the Chemical Society for admission of women to fellowship. This was eventually granted in 1919, and Humphrey was subsequently elected to fellowship.[2]
The Chemical Society of London succeeded where a number of previous chemical associations - the Lunar Society's London branch chemical society of the 1780s, the Animal Chemical Club of 1805, the London Chemical Society of 1824 - failed. One assertion of a cause of success of the Chemical Society of London is that it was, unlike its forerunners, a "fruitful amalgamation of the technological and academic chemist".[3]
Its activities expanded over the years, including eventually becoming a major publisher in the field of chemistry. On 15 May 1980, it amalgamated with the Royal Institute of Chemistry, the Faraday Society and the Society for Analytical Chemistry to become the Royal Society of Chemistry.[4]
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- Thomas Graham: 1841–1843
- Arthur Aikin: 1843–1845
- Thomas Graham: 1845–1847
- William Thomas Brande: 1847–1849
- Richard Phillips: 1849–1851
- Charles Daubeny: 1851–1853
- Colonel Philip Yorke: 1853–1855
- William Allen Miller: 1855–1857
- Sir Lyon Playfair: 1857–1859
- Sir Benjamin Brodie: 1859–1861
- August Wilhelm von Hofmann: 1861–1863
- Alexander William Williamson: 1863–1865
- William Allen Miller: 1865–1867
- Warren de la Rue: 1867–1869
- Alexander William Williamson: 1869–1871
- Sir Edward Frankland: 1871–1873
- William Odling: 1873–1875
- Sir Frederick Augustus Abel: 1875–1877
- John Hall Gladstone: 1877–1878
- Warren de la Rue: 1879–1880
- Sir Henry Enfield Roscoe: 1880–1882
- Sir Joseph Henry Gilbert: 1882–1883
- William Henry Perkin: 1883–1885
- Hugo Muller: 1885–1887
- Sir William Crookes: 1887–1889
- William James Russell: 1889–1891
- Alexander Crum Brown: 1891–1893
- Henry Edward Armstrong: 1893–1895
- Augustus George Vernon Harcourt: 1895–1897
- Sir James Dewar: 1897–1899
- Sir Thomas Edward Thorpe: 1899–1901
- James Emerson Reynolds: 1901–1903
- William Augustus Tilden: 1903–1905
- Raphael Meldola: 1905–1907
- Sir William Ramsay: 1907–1909
- Harold Baily Dixon: 1909–1911
- Percy Faraday Frankland: 1911–1913
- Sir William Henry Perkin Jnr: 1913–1915
- Alexander Scott: 1915–1917
- Sir William Jackson Pope: 1917–1919
- James Johnston Dobbie: 1919–1921
- Sir James Walker: 1921–1923
- William Palmer Wynne: 1923–1925
- Arthur William Crossley: 1925–1926
- Herbert Brereton Baker: 1926–1928
- Sir Jocelyn Field Thorpe: 1928–1931
- George Gerald Henderson: 1931–1933
- Sir Gilbert Thomas Morgan: 1933–1935
- Nevil Vincent Sidgwick: 1935–1937
- Sir Frederick George Donnan: 1937–1939
- Sir Robert Robinson: 1939–1941
- James Charles Philip: 1941 to August 1941
- William Hobson Mills: 1941–1944
- Walter Norman Haworth: 1944–1946
- Sir Cyril Norman Hinshelwood: 1946–1948
- Sir Ian Morris Heilbron: 1948–1950
- Sir Eric Keightley Rideal: 1950–1952
- Sir Christopher Kelk Ingold: 1952–1954
- William Wardlaw: 1954–1956
- Sir Edmund Langley Hirst: 1956–1958
- Harry Julius Emeleus: 1958–1960
- Lord Alexander Robertus Todd: 1960–1962
- John Monteath Robertson: 1962–1964
- Sir Ewart Ray Herbert Jones: 1964–1966
- Sir Harry Work Melville: 1966–1968
- Sir Ronald Sydney Nyholm: 1968–1970
- Lord George Porter: 1970–1972
- Sir Frederick Sydney Dainton: 1972–1973
- Sir Derek Harold Richard Barton: 1973–1974
- Jack Wheeler Barrett: 1974–1975
- Frank Arnold Robinson: 1975–1976
- Cyril Clifford Addison: 1976–1977
- Alan Woodworth Johnson: 1977–1978
- Theodore Morris Sugden: 1978–1979
- Dr Alfred Spinks: 1979–1980
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On 23 February 1841, a meeting was convened to take into consideration the formation of a Chemical Society. The Provisional Committee appointed for carrying that object into effect invited a number of gentlemen engaged in the practice and pursuit of chemistry to become original members. The following 77 communicated their written assent:[5][6]
- Arthur Aikin
- Thomas Andrews
- J A Barron
- James Blake
- William Blythe
- William Thomas Brande
- E W Brayley
- Henry James Brooke
- Charles Button
- Thomas Clark
- William John Cock[7]
- John Thomas Cooper
- John Thomas Cooper Jnr.
- Andrew Crosse
- Walter Crum
- James Cumming
- John Frederic Daniell
- Charles Daubeny
- Edmund Davy
- Warren De la Rue
- Thomas Everitt
- William Ferguson
- George Fownes
- A Frampton
- J P Gassiot
- Thomas Gill
- Thomas Graham
- John Graham
- John Joseph Griffin
- Thomas Griffiths
- William Robert Grove
- Charles Heisch
- Henry Hennell
- Thomas Hetherington Henry
- William Herapath
- Thomas Charles Hope
- F R Hughes
- Percival Johnson
- James Johnston
- W B Leeson
- George Dixon Longstaff
- George Lowe
- Robert Macgregor
- Charles Macintosh
- John Mercer
- William Hallowes Miller
- Thomas Moody
- David Mushet
- J A Paris
- H L Pattinson
- Thomas Pearsall
- Frederic Penny
- William Haseldine Pepys
- Richard Phillips
- Lyon Playfair
- Robert Porrett
- L H Potts
- G Owen Rees
- David Boswell Reid
- Thomas Richardson
- Maurice Scanlan
- Ollive Sims
- Denham Smith
- Edward Solly Jnr
- John Stenhouse
- Richard Taylor
- John Tennent
- E F Teschemacher
- Thomas Thomson
- Robert Dundas Thomson
- Wilton George Turner
- Robert Warington
- William West
- James Low Wheeler
- George Wilson
- John Wilson
- Philip Yorke
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