Person Threlfall; Sir; Richard (1861 - 1932); physicist and chemical engineer Threlfall Richard Sir physicist and chemical engineer 1861 - 1932 British Male Hollowforth, Woodplumpton, near Preston, Lancashire, England 14 August 1861 18610814 Edgbaston, Birmingham, England 10/07/1932 19320710 Burial: St Anne's Church, Woodplumpton, Lancashire, England.

physicist and chemical engineer Physical chemistry Physics Electrochemistry Education: Clifton College, Cambridge; Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge natural sciences tripos (1884). Career: Studied mathematics privately with W. J. Ibbetson; worked under August Jundt and Rudolph Fitting; became a demonstrator in the Cavendish Laboratory under Joseph John Thomson (FRS 1884); appointed professor of physics at the University of Sydney (1886); demanded for a new building to house the department and oversaw its completion (1888); president of a royal commission on the carriage of coal in ships (1896); obtained leave of absence to inquire into methods of teaching electrical subjects in Europe and on return resigned his chair (1898); appointed director of research with the chemical manufacturing firm Albright and Wilson of Oldbury, Birmingham (1898) and became director of the firm (1901); engaged in the use of phosphorus as smoke screens and in tracer ammunition. He arranged for the exploration of sources of helium in gas wells in America and created a scheme for the production of heloum in quantity, and its use in balloons and airships (1914); invited by the Admiralty to serve on the board of invention and research (1915); became one of the original members of the government Advisory Council on Scientific and Industrial Research (1916); offered but refused the directorship of the National Physical Laboratory (1919); declining health (1925). Honours: KBE 1917; GBE 1927 Memberships: Royal Society of New South Wales (President 1895) Fuel Research Board Chemical Research Board Awards/Medals: Gold medal of the Society of Chemical Industry (1929) Parents: Richard Threlfall (1804–1870), of Hollowforth, wine merchant and sometime mayor of Preston, and Sarah Jane Mason (d. 1898). Spouse: Evelyn Agnes Baird (1866–1929) of Bowmont Hill, Northumberland. Children: Four sons and three daughters. Designed and built the first automatic microtome for cutting thin uniform sections of specimens for microscopical examination. Established the School of Physics at the University of Sydney. Fellow 01/06/1899 38 Charles Thomas Heycock; Charles Chree; Walter Holbrook Gaskell; William Augustus Tilden; John Perry Joseph John Thomson; Richard Tetley Glazebrook; William Napier Shaw; Oliver Joseph Lodge; William Ramsay; Ernest Howard Griffiths; John Henry Poynting Sources: Bulloch's Roll; DNB Obituaries: Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society 1932-1935 vol l pp 45-53, plate, by Sir William Bate Hardy References: R E Threlfall, 'Sir Richard Threlfall GBE, FRS (1861-1932): Some Personal Memories' in NR 1961 vol 16 pp 234-242, plate R W Home, 'The Royal Society and the Empire: the colonial and Commonwealth Fellowship. Part 2. After 1847' in NR 2003 vol 57 pp 47-84 Threfall R, GA WRS 1718.jpg ©Godfrey Argent Studio International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) - Ottawa 1996 ISBN 0-9696035-3-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbm.1932.0010 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/action/doSearch?ContribAuthorRaw=Thorpe%2C+Jocelyn+Field RCN R66236 RCN 17877 RCN R66237 https://pictures.royalsociety.org 14 Aug 1861 - 10 Jul 1932 The past Fellows entries are under continuous revision. If you have queries or additional information to contribute, please contact Library@royalsociety.org. Content in external sources is not controlled by the Royal Society and historical sources may include content that is now unacceptable. Reviewed on 14/03/2024 as part of the Name Authority Project update. NA6235 21/11/2001 Andyg Martind 17/03/2026 RS_NET\VirginiaM Yes http://viaf.org/viaf/118100507 c704d76f-759d-4640-b032-e4fe4c8be639