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Authorised form of nameThorpe; Sir; Jocelyn Field (1872 - 1940); chemist
Dates1872 - 1940
NationalityBritish
Place of birth20 Larkhall Rise, Clapham, London, England
Date of birth01 December 1872
Place of deathWhite House, Cooden Beach, Sussex, England
Date of death10/06/1940
Occupationchemist
Research fieldOrganic chemistry
Chemistry
ActivityEducation: Primary in Clapham; Worthing College; King’s College, London (1888-1890); Royal College of Science (1890-1892); PhD Heidelberg (1895)
Career:
Joined Owens College, Manchester [present day University of Manchester] as an assistant to William Henry Perkin the younger (1895) and subsequently became a lecturer (1896) and senior lecturer (1908); whilst at Manchester he worked largely on terpenes (the primary constituents of many essential oils), in particular on camphor and its derivatives; awarded a Royal Society Sorby fellowship and moved to Sheffield devoting himself to organic synthetic and analytical work (1908); awarded the chair of organic chemistry at Imperial College, London (1914) a position he held until 1938; at the outbreak of World War One acted as administrator within the Chemical Defence and Trench Warfare committees; served on the Advisory Council to the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (1916-1922); his wartime work focused on the development of lachrymators and of analgesic agents such as phenacetin and novocaine; remained on committees and continued in his capacity of consulting government and industrial bodies post war; worked on ‘valence deflection’, known as the Thorpe-Ingold effect), in collaboration with Christopher Kelk Ingold (FRS 1924)died of myocarditis (1940).
Memberships:
VP of the Chemical Society (1921)
President of the Chemical Society (1928-1931)
Awards/Medals:
Longstaff Prize (1921)
Davy Medal (1922)
Honours:
Officier de la Légion d’honneur (1919); CBE 1917; Kt 1939
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election07/05/1908
Age at election36
ProposerThomas Edward Thorpe; Harold Bailey Dixon; William Henry Perkin; William Palmer Wynne; Frederick Stanley Kipping; John Millar Thomson; Raphael Meldola
Royal Society activityMedals and prizes:
Davy Medal 1922
Sorby Fellowship 1908
RelationshipsParents: William George Thorpe (1828–1903), merchant and barrister-at-law at the Middle Temple, and Naomi, née Field (1834–1912).
Spouse: Alice Lilian Briggs (1879–1967), daughter of William Briggs, merchant, of Heaton Mersey, Stockport (1902).
Published worksRCN R66225
RCN R66226
RCN 31570
General contextKnown for three organic reactions: 1) Thorpe Reaction (chemical reaction described as a self-condensation of aliphatic nitriles catalyzed by base to form enamines); 2) Thorpe-Ingold Effect (effect where increasing steric hindrance favours ring closure and intramolecular reactions); 3) Guareschi-Thorpe condensation (increasing the size of two of the substituents at a tetrahedrally-bound carbon atom leads to higher intramolecular reaction rates between parts of the other two substituents).
Royal Society Obituary or MemoirClick to view (may be contained within a meeting notice, presidential address or list of death notices)
SourcesSources:
Bulloch's Roll; DSB
Obituaries:
Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society 1939-1941 vol 3 pp 531-544, plate, by C K Ingold
Virtual International Authority Filehttp://viaf.org/viaf/39462014
Royal Society codeNA6170
Archives associated with this Fellow
Reference numberTitleDate
IM/004594Thorpe, Sir Jocelyn Fieldnd
MS/373/1/23Letter from Jocelyn Field Thorpe, Neuenheims Landst 12, Heidelberg, to Thomas Edward Thorpe19 May 1895
NLB/43/50Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Dr Jocelyn Field Thorpe, Fellow of the Royal Society28 October 1910
NLB/45/720Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Dr J [Jocelyn] F [Field] Thorpe FRS29 April 1912
NLB/44/56Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Dr J [Jocelyn] F [Field] Thorpe FRS29 April 1911
NLB/32/231Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Dr Thomas Edward Thorpe, Fellow of the Royal Society1 February 1906
NLB/41/830Copy letter from Alfred Bray Kempe, to Jocelyn Field Thorpe, Fellow of the Royal Society3 March 1910
NLB/37/871Copy Letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to W [William] Barlow, Fellow of the Royal Society26 May 1908
NLB/41/573Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Dr Jocelyn Field Thorpe, Fellow of the Royal Society17 January 1910
NLB/44/67Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Dr J [Jocelyn] F [Field] Thorpe FRS 1 May 1911
MC/24/184Letter from Jocelyn [Field] Thorpe, The University, Manchester, to The Chairman, Sorby Research Fund Committee, [Royal Society]29 October 1909
NLB/41/165Copy letter from Archibald Geikie, to The Vice Chancellor, University of Sheffield27 October 1909
NLB/41/746Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Dr Jocelyn Field Thorpe, Fellow of the Royal Society19 February 1910
MC/26/260Letter from [Jocelyn Field] Thorpe, The University, Sheffield, to The Assistant Secretary, Royal Society17 May 1911
NLB/42/260Copy letter from Joseph Larmor, Secretary RS to Professor W [William] H [Hicks] FRS, Leamhurst, Ivy Parl, Sheffield3 May 1910
NLB/42/88Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Dr J [Jocelyn] F [Field] Thorpe FRS 22 March 1910
NLB/41/829Copy letter from Alfred Bray Kempe, to Jocelyn Field Thorpe, Fellow of the Royal Society3 March 1910
NLB/44/700Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Dr J [Jocelyn] F [Field] Thorpe FRS26 October 1911
NLB/46/745Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Dr [Jocelyn Field] Thorpe, Fellow of the Royal Society28 October 1912
NLB/41/705Copy letter from Alfred Bray Kempe, to Jocelyn Field Thorpe, Fellow of the Royal Society, The University, Manchester8 February 1910
NLB/42/392Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Dr J [Jocelyn] F [Field] Thorpe FRS3 June 1910
NLB/46/402Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Dr Jocelyn Field Thorpe, Fellow of the Royal Society26 July 1912
MC/26/259Letter from [Jocelyn Field] Thorpe, The University, Sheffield, to The Assistant Secretary, Royal Society4 May 1911
NLB/45/257Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Dr J [Jocelyn] F [Field] Thorpe FRS26 January 1912
NLB/47/390 Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Dr J [Jocelyn] F [Field] Thorpe FRS, 5 Endcliffe Hall Avenue, Sheffield25 January 1913
NLB/47/572Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Dr J [Jocelyn] F [Field] Thorpe FRS25 February 1913
NLB/48/3Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Dr Jocelyn Field Thorpe, Fellow of the Royal Society25 April 1913
NLB/48/856Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to [Jocelyn Field] Thorpe, Fellow of the Royal Society[October 1913]
NLB/47/430Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Mr J [Jocelyn] F [Field] Thorpe FRS29 January 1913
NLB/48/555Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Dr [Jocelyn Field] Thorpe, Fellow of the Royal Society25 July 1913
MC/28/281Letter from Jocelyn [Field] Thorpe, The University, Sheffield, to the Assistant Secretary, [Royal Society]4 October 1913
MC/28/280Letter from Jocelyn [Field] Thorpe, The University, Sheffield, to the Assistant Secretary, [Royal Society]20 April 1913
NLB/51/573Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society to Professor Jocelyn Field Thorpe FRS29 April 1915
NLB/51/657Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society to Professor Jocylen Field Thorpe FRS14 May 1915
NLB/56/678Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to [Messrs Harrison & Sons]12 April 1919
RR/32/22Referee's report by Jocelyn Field Thorpe, on a paper 'The configuration of the carbon atom' by W BarlowMay 1926
RR/30/42Referee's report by Jocelyn Field Thorpe, on a paper 'Sulphur studies in coal gas. I. The removal of carbon bisulphide by a nickel catalyst' by E V Evans and H Stanier3 March 1924
NLB/63/559Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society and FRS; to Professor [Jocelyn Field] Thorpe, FRS04 November 1922
NLB/61/149Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [Jocelyn Field] Thorpe, FRS24 May 1921
NLB/67/746Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [Jocelyn Field] Thorpe, FRS26 February 1925
NLB/62/551Copy letter from [Charles Thomas] Heycock, Chairman of the Chemistry Committee and FRS; to Professor [Jocelyn Field] Thorpe, FRS8 March 1922
RR/67/316Letter from J D Griffith Davies, Assistant Secretary of The Royal Society, on a paper 'Explosion waves and shock waves. VI. The disturbance produced by bursting diaphragms with compressed air' by William Payman and Wilfred Charles Furness Shepherd to Jocelyn Field Thorpe2 May 1940
RR/67/313Letter from Jocelyn Field Thorpe, on a paper 'Explosion waves and shock waves. VI. The disturbance produced by bursting diaphragms with compressed air' by William Payman and Wilfred Charles Furness Shepherd to the Secretaries of the Royal SocietyMarch 1940
NLB/64/615Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [Jocelyn Field] Thorpe, FRS11 May 1923
NLB/65/569Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [Jocelyn Field] Thorpe, CBE, FRS21 November 1923
NLB/65/495Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr Alexander Scott, FRS8 November 1923
NLB/65/394Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to the Honourable Sir Charles [Algernon] Parsons, KCB, FRS; also sent to Professor [Charles Glover] Barkla, Professor [Arthur Stanley] Eddington, Sir [William Henry] Bragg, Professor [Thomas Ralph] Merton, Professor [Jocelyn Field] Thorpe, Sir [Frederick William] Andrewes, Professor [Edwin Stephen] Goodrich, Sir [Thomas Henry] Holland and Sir [Frederick William] Keeble.25 October 1923
NLB/68/62Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [Jocelyn Field] Thorpe, FRS8 May 1925
NLB/66/570Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Prof. [Jocelyn Field] Thorpe, C.B.E, FRS.30 May 1924
NLB/67/780Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [Jocelyn Field] Thorpe, FRS5 March 1925
NLB/68/65Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [Henry Edward] Armstrong, FRS; The Royal Institution8 May 1925
NLB/69/582Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Prof. [Jocelyn Field] Thorpe, FRS11 June 1926
NLB/68/529Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [Jocelyn Field] Thorpe, FRS; Dundarrach, Lossiemouth, Morayshire28 July 1925
NLB/68/894Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [Jocelyn Field] Thorpe, CBE, FRS21 November 1925
NLB/68/218Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [Jocelyn Field] Thorpe, FRS29 May 1925
NLB/68/288Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [Jocelyn Field] Thorpe, FRS12 June 1925
NLB/71/190Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Prof. A. Findlay6 February 1928
NLB/69/142Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Prof. [Jocelyn Field ]Thrope, CBE, FRS20 January 1926
NLB/63/774Copy letter from Sir David Prain, Treasurer of the Royal Society and FRS; to Professor [Jocelyn Field] Thorpe, C.B.E., FRSDecember 1922
NLB/69/191Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Prof. [Jocelyn Field] Thorpe, FRS25 January 1926
NLB/68/875Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [Jocelyn Field] Thorpe, FRS17 November 1925
NLB/70/152Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [Jocelyn Field] Thorpe, FRS14 January 1927
NLB/69/762Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Prof [Jocelyn Field] Thorne, FRS6 October 1926
NLB/70/737Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [Jocelyn Field] Thorpe, CBE, FRS15 July 1927
NLB/72/667Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [Jocelyn Field] Thorpe, FRS21 February 1930
NLB/72/676Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [Jocelyn Field] Thorpe, CBE, FRS25 February 1930
NLB/72/947Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [Jocelyn Field] Thorpe, CBE, FRS17 July 1930
EC/1908/18Thorpe, Sir Jocelyn Field: certificate of election to the Royal Society
NLB/69/146Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Prof. [Geoffrey Ingram] Taylor, FRS21 January 1926
EC/1908/17Thorpe, Sir Jocelyn Field: certificate of election to the Royal Society
NLB/43/307Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Dr Jocelyn Field Thorpe, Fellow of the Royal Society9 December 1910
RR/45/29Referee's report by Jocelyn Field Thorpe, on a paper 'The action of halogens upon the arylazoacetoacetates and related compounds.—Part II' by Frederick Daniel Chattaway and Reginald Jack Lye23 November 1931
RR/42/9Referee's report by Jocelyn Field Thorpe, on a paper 'Optically Active Di- and Tetra-methyl-spiro-5: 5-Dihydantoins' by William Jackson Pope and James Bell WhitworthAugust 1931
MC/25/253Letter from Jocelyn Thorpe, The University, Sheffield, to The Assistan Secretary, Royal Society1 December 1910
RR/35/27Referee's report by Jocelyn Field Thorpe, on a paper 'The therapeutic action of some bismuthyl derivatives of organic hydroxy-acids' by Carl Hamilton Browning, Julius Berend Cohen, R Gulbransen, E Phillis and W R Snodgrass23 May 1927
RR/40/76Referee's report by Jocelyn Field Thorpe, on a paper 'The density and compressibility of phosphine gas; the atomic weight of phosphorus' by Mowbray RitchieFebruary 1930
NLB/41/166Copy letter from Archibald Geikie, to Dr Jocelyn Field Thorpe, Fellow of the Royal Society27 October 1909
MC/25/252Letter from Jocelyn Thorpe, The University, Sheffield, to The Assistan Secretary, Royal Society20 April 1910
NLB/42/252Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Dr Jocelyn Field Thorpe, Dsc, FRS, University, Manchester2 May 1910
NLB/44/138Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Dr J [Jocelyn] F [Field] Thorpe FRS 16 May 1911
NLB/44/331Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Dr J [Jocelyn] F [Field] Thorpe FRS 19 June 1911
MC/28/279Letter from Jocelyn [Field] Thorpe, The University, Sheffield, to the Assistant Secretary, [Royal Society]28 March 1913
NLB/47/818Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Professor J [Jocelyn] F [Field] Thorpe FRS15 April 1913
NLB/47/850Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Dr Jocelyn Thorpe FRS, The University, Sheffield22 April 1913
MC/28/282Letter from Jocelyn [Field] Thorpe, The University, Sheffield, to The Chairman, Sorby Research Fund Committee, [Royal Society]15 December 1913
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