Record

Authorised form of namePerkin; Sir; William Henry (1838 - 1907)
Dates1838 - 1907
NationalityBritish
Place of birthKing David's Lane, Shadwell, London, England
Date of birth12 March 1838
Place of deathSudbury, Middlesex
Date of death14/07/1907
DatesAndPlacesBurial:
Christ Church graveyard, Harrow, Middlesex
OccupationChemist
Research fieldSynthetic organic chemistry
Physical organic chemistry
ActivityEducation:
City of London School (1851-1853); Royal College of Chemistry (from 1853)
Career:
Set up a laboratory in his own home to study organic chemistry (1854); discovered mauve (1856) and continued to discover and market synthetic dyes; set up a manufactory in Greenford Green to make mauve
Honours:
Kt 1906
Memberships:
FCS (President)
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election07/06/1866
RSActivityMedals and prizes:
Royal Medal 1879; Davy Medal 1889
RelationshipsYoungest son of George Fowler Perkin, builder, and his wife Sarah Cuthbert.
Married: 1) (13 September 1859) Jemima Harriet Lisset (died 1862); their sons were William Henry Perkin (FRS 1890) and Arthur George Perkin (FRS 1903); 2) (1866) Alexandrine Caroline, daughter of Ivan Herman Mollwoe
SourceSources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; DSB
Obituaries:
Proc Roy Soc Series A 1907-1908 vol 80 pp xxxviii-lix signed by R M
Notes:
DNB does not specify location of Shadwell; birthplace 'London', 'The Times' 12 March 2001
Virtual International Authority Filehttp://viaf.org/viaf/45098313
CodeNA1162
Archives associated with this Fellow
RefNoTitleDate
MS/743/1/117Letter from William Henry Perkin, The Chestnuts, Sudbury, Harrow, to [John Hall] Gladstone19 July 1889
MS/743/1/118Letter from William Henry Perkin, The Chestnuts, Sudbury, Harrow, to [John Hall] Gladstone25 October 1889
IM/Maull/003516Perkin, Sir William Henrynd
MS/743/1/119Letter from William Henry Perkin, The Chestnuts, Sudbury, Harrow, to [John Hall] Gladstone1 November 1889
MS/743/1/116Letter from William Henry Perkin, The Chestnuts, Sudbury, Harrow, to [John Hall] Gladstone13 July 1889
IM/Maull/003515Perkin, Sir Wiliam Henrynd
NLB/3/872Copy letter from Michael Foster, to the Honorable C W Fremantle1 November 1889
NLB/3/877Copy letter from Michael Foster, to Dr W H Perkin, Fellow of the Royal Society31 October 1889
NLB/8/899Copy letter from Michael Foster, to Dr William Henry Perkin, Fellow of the Royal Society19 January 1894
NLB/30/492Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor William Henry Perkin, Fellow of the Royal Society3 April 1905
NLB/35/474Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Sir William Perkin, Fellow of the Royal Society5 June 1907
NLB/35/764Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Messrs Harrison & Sons15 July 1907
NLB/34/645Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor William Henry Perkin Junior, Fellow of the Royal Society21 February 1907
NLB/36/720Copy letter from Archibald Geikie, to Professor Raphael Meldola, Fellow of the Royal Society6 December 1907
NLB/37/417Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Professor [Joseph] Larmor, Secretary of the Royal Society16 March 1908
NLB/37/478Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to F M Perkin, Polytechnic Institute, Borough Road, SE25 March 1908
MS/427/2Copy letter from [George Gabriel] Stokes, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Lieut Gen. [Henry Frederick] Ponsonby6 November 1879
MS/373/1/118Testimonial by William Henry Perkin, The Chestnuts, Sudbury, Harrow, supporting Thomas Edward Thorpe23 April 1874
EC/1866/09Perkin, Sir William Henry: certificate of election to the Royal Society
RR/11/34Referee's report by William Henry Perkin, on a paper 'Constitution of the terpenes camphors and camphor acid' by John Norman Collie24 July 1891
RR/5/178Referee's report by Alexander William Williamson, on a paper 'On mauve or aniline-purple' by William Henry Perkin19 November 1863
AP/38/11Paper, 'On some new colouring matters' by Arthur H [Herbert] Church and William H [Henry] Perkin1856
RR/5/179Referee's report by William Allen Miller, on a paper 'On mauve or aniline-purple' by William Henry Perkin16 March 1864
MC/16/85Letter from [William Henry] Perkin, The Chestnuts, Sudbury, Harrow, to [Michael] Foster22 January 1894
MC/16Volume 16 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1893-1896
NLB/37/690Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Dr M [Martin] O [Onslow] Foster, Fellow of the Royal Society1 May 1908
NLB/37/310Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to F M Perkin, Borough Polytechnic Institute, 103 Borough Road, SE28 February 1908
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