| Authorised form of name | Price; James (1752 - 1783) |
| Other forms of surname | Higginbottom |
| Dates | 1752 - 1783 |
| Nationality | British |
| Place of birth | London, England |
| Date of birth | 1752 |
| Date of death | 03 or 08 August 1783 |
| Activity | Education:
MA (1777) Magdalen College, Oxford; MD (1782) Oxford
Career:
Apparently transmuted mercury into gold in his private laboratory at Stoke near Guildford (6-25 May 1782); witnesses included Lord Onslow and Lord Palmerston; some of the gold was presented to King George III; published 'Account of some experiments....' (1782); asked to repeat the experiment in front of Royal Society and hesitated to do so; he committed suicide by poisoning himself with laurel-water, he had invited the Royal Society to see his experiments, some accounts state that he died in the presence of three Fellows who had come to his laboratory while others say that none came and he died alone.
|
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 10/05/1781 |
| Relationships | Changed his name from Higginbottom to Price in accordance with the will of a relative who had bequeathed him a fortune |
| Source | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB
Notes:
Election certificate has surname "Higginbottom" crossed out, and "Price" inserted
DNB gives date of birth as 1757/8 and date as death as 31 July 1783. |
| Code | NA7253 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| EC/1781/08 | Price, James: certificate of election to the Royal Society | |
| CB/1/6/189 | Copy from memory of a letter from Charles Blagden, Paris to M Wall | 14 May 1783 |
| CB/1/3/282 | Letter from J Dryander to Charles Blagden, Physician to the Army at Plymouth | 3 August 1782 |
| CB/1/1/80 | Letter from Sir Joseph Banks, Soho Square to Charles Blagden, Physician to the Army at Plymouth | 14 July 1782 |
| CB/1/6/188 | Letter from M Wall, Oxford to Charles Blagden, King's Road, Bedford Row | 20 June 1783 |
| NLB/11/862 | Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to Philip Joseph Hartog, Owens College, Manchester | 21 October 1895 |
| CB/1/1/82 | Letter from Sir Joseph Banks, Soho Square to Charles Blagden, Physician to the Army at Plymouth | 19 August 1782 |