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Authorised form of nameDalton; John (1766 - 1844)
Dates1766 - 1844
NationalityBritish
Place of birthEaglesfield, near Cockermouth, Cumberland, England
Date of birth06 September 1766
Place of deathManchester
Date of death27 July 1844
DatesAndPlacesBurial:
Ardwick cemetery, near Manchester
Research fieldPhysics
Chemistry
Meteorology
ActivityEducation:
Friends School, Pardshaw Hall
Career:
Taught in a school in Kendall (1781); began a meteorological diary, which he kept for 57 years (from 1787); tutor in Mathematics and Chemistry, New College, Manchester (1793); discovered the law of multiple proportions and atomic weights; held honorary degrees from Oxford and Edinburgh Universities; was colour blind; wrote 'Elements of English grammar' (London, 1801)
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election07/03/1822
RSActivityMedals and prizes:
Royal Medal 1826
RelationshipsSon of Joseph Dalton and his wife Deborah (nee Greenup)
SourceSources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; DSB; DQB
Obituaries:
Proc Roy Soc 1844 No 60 pp 528-530
References:
Arnold Thackray, '"In Praise of Famous Men" - The John Dalton Bicentenary Celebrations, 1966' in NR 1967 vol 22 pp 40-44
Lise Wilkinson, 'Three Drawings of Fellows by William Brockedon, FRS' in NR 1971 vol 26 pp 183-187, plate
Donald Cardwell and Joan Mottram, 'Fresh Light on John Dalton' in NR 1984-85 vol 39 pp 29-40, plate
John Hedley Brooke, review of Colin A Russell, Lancastrian Chemist: the Early Years of Sir Edward Frankland in NR 1990 vol 44 pp 135-136
Sydney Ross, 'The Dalton Entail' in NR 1997 vol 51 pp 219-233
Sydney Ross, 'John Dalton's Lakeland Excursions' in NR 1999 vol 53 pp 79-94
R W Jones, 'Dalton's unfortunate choice' in NR 2003 vol 57 pp 15-33
M I Grossman 'John Dalton and the London atomists: William and Bryan Higgins, William Austin, and new Daltonian doubts about the origiin of atomic theory' in NR 2014 vol 68, no 4, pp339-356
Notes:
DQB has birth date as 5 September 1766
Virtual International Authority Filehttp://viaf.org/viaf/56739674
CodeNA8194
Archives associated with this Fellow
RefNoTitleDate
EC/1821/41Dalton, John: certificate of election to the Royal Society
MM/1/11Letter from John Dalton, Manchester, to Major Emmet13 February 1836
MM/1/8Letter from John Dalton, Manchester, to Jean Baptiste Biot5 August 1833
MM/1/10Letter from John Dalton, Manchester, to Major Emmet15 December 1835
MM/1/7Letter from John Dalton, Manchester, to Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac5 Aug 1833
MM/1/9Letter from John Dalton, Manchester14 July 1835
MS/710/30Note and signature of John Daltonnd
IM/001047Dalton, Johnnd
NLB/2/754Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to Emmett, 49 Linver Road, Hurlington30 October 1888
IM/001048Dalton, Johnnd
IM/001049Dalton, John
MC/3/163Letter from John Moore, Chairman of the Commissioning Committee, Manchester, to the [Marquis of Northampton] President of the Royal Society and its Fellows18 May 1841
MC/3Volume 3 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1839-1843
P/0030Portrait of Dalton, John
MC/3/231Letter from Peter Clare, Manchester, to John David Roberton, [Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society]30 July 1842
AP/23/6Unpublished paper, 'On the arseniates' by John DaltonApril 1839
AP/23/5Unpublished paper, 'On the phosphates' by John DaltonApril 1839
AP/21/22Unpublished paper, 'On the relative attractions of sulphuric acid for water, under particular circumstances: with suggestion of means of improving the ordinary process of manufacturing sulphuric acid' by Henry Hough Watson28 May 1838
NLB/17/448Copy letter from John Evans, to Reverend J P Moorehouse3 November 1898
HS/6/466Copy letter, from John Dalton to Sir John Herschel, dated at Manchester28 February 1833
HS/25/3/15Copy letter, from Sir John Herschel to John Dalton, dated at Slough20 May 1833
S/0044Sculpture busts of Watt, James and Dalton, John
MC/17/33Letter from [Reverend Thomas P] Moorhouse, The Vicarage, Eaglesfield, Cockermouth, Cumberland, to Professor Michael Foster, [Secretary of the Royal Society]14 May 1897
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