Record

Authorised form of nameTennant; Smithson (1761 - 1815)
Dates1761 - 1815
NationalityBritish
Place of birthSelby, Yorkshire, England
Date of birth30 November 1761
Place of deathBridge collapsed while he was riding over it near Bologne, France
Date of death22 February 1815
Research fieldChemistry
ActivityEducation:
Edinburgh (studied medicine); Christ's College, Cambridge (botany, chemistry); MB; MD (1796, Cambridge)
Career:
Professor of Chemistry, Cambridge (1813 until his death); killed when the bridge he was riding over collapsed.
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election13/01/1785
Royal Society activityMedals and prizes:
Copley Medal 1804
SourcesSources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; DSB
References:
W A Smeaton, 'Louis Bernard Guyton de Morveau, FRS (1737-1816) and his Relations with British Scientists' in NR 1967 vol 22 pp 113-130
L F Gilbert, 'W H Wollaston MSS at Cambridge' in NR 1952 vol 9 pp 310-332
Donald McDonald, 'Smithson Tennant, FRS (1761-1815)' in NR 1962 vol 17 pp 77-94
N G Coley, 'George Pearson MD, FRS (1751-1828): 'The greatest chemist in England'? in NR 2003 vol 57 pp
161-175
W P Griffith and P J T Morris, 'Charles Hatchett FRS (1765 - 1847), chemist and discoverer of niobium' in NR 2003 vol 57 pp 299 - 316
M I Grossman 'Smithson Tennant: meteorites and the final trip to France' NR 2007 pp265-284
Virtual International Authority Filehttp://viaf.org/viaf/43034850
Royal Society codeNA626
Archives associated with this Fellow
Reference numberTitleDate
EC/1784/12Tennant, Smithson: certificate of election to the Royal Society
L&P/8/120Paper, 'Of a species of lead ore recently discovered in Derbyshire' by Smithson Tennant1784
L&P/12/33Paper, 'On the composition of emery' by Smithson Tennant1802
L&P/9/194Paper, 'On the decomposition of fixed air' by Smithson Tennant1791
L&P/11/25Paper, 'On the action of nitre upon gold and platina' by Smithson Tennant1796
L&P/11/103Paper, 'Of the different sorts of lime used in agriculture' by Smithson Tennant1799
L&P/12/79Paper, 'Two metals found in the black powder left after the solution of platina' by Smithson Tennant1804
PT/8/32Paper, 'On the means of producing a double distillation by the same heat' by Smithson Tennant[1814]
PT/1/20Paper, 'An analysis of the waters of the Dead Sea and the River Jordan' by Alexander [John Gaspard] Marcet[1807]
PT/8/30/1Manuscript, 'On an easier mode of procuring potassium than that which is now adopted' by Smithson Tennant[1814]
PT/8/30/2Plate, drawing of glass tube used in procuring potassium by [Smithson Tennant][1814]
PT/8/30Paper, 'On an easier mode of procuring potassium than that which is now adopted' by Smithson Tennant[1814]
MC/28/275Letter from [James Francis] Tennant, 11 Clifton Gardens, Maida Hill, W, to [Robert] Harrison, Assistant Secretary, [Royal Society]31 January 1913
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