Person Rutherford; Ernest (1871 - 1937); Baron Rutherford of Nelson Rutherford Ernest 1871 - 1937 New Zealand Male Spring Grove [Brightwater, New Zealand] 30 August 1871 Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England 19/10/1937 19371019 Burial: Westminster Abbey, London, England, Europe

Farm near Foxhill, New Zealand (from age 5); Havelock, New Zealand (from age 11); 152 St Famille St Montreal (now 3702 due to renumbering) 17 Wilmslow Rd Manchester (now 409 due to renumbering) Newnham Cottage Cambridge

Physics Chemistry Education: Nelson College, New Zealand (Marlborough Education Board Scholarship) (1887-1889); Canterbury College, Christchuch (1890-1894). BA, BSc, MA (Hons), DSc (University of New Zealand); BA (Cambridge); BSc (McGill, ad eudem) Career: Worked as a relieving teacher, Christchurch Boys High School (1894); won a scholarship as a research student in England and went to work with J J Thompson (FRS 1884), Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge; Professor, McGill University, Montreal, Canada (1898); worked on radioactivity with Frederick Soddy (FRS 1910); moved to Manchester University, England (1907); worked on acoustic detection of submarines (during World War 1); Director, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, where he split the atom (1919); helped to found, and was President of, the Academic Assistance Council to aid displaced academics (1933); received about 32 Honorary doctorates; his honours included 34 medals, and Honorary Fellowships of many societies; his picture appeared on $100 (NZ) note (went into circulation 1992) Had little patience with left wing politics or with theoretical speculation generally. His accent was said to be a combination of West Country and Cockney. Medals and prizes: Nobel Prize (Chemistry) 1908 Honours: Kt 1914; OM 1925; Baron 1931 Memberships: Hon RSNZ (1904); FInstP (president 1931-1933) Son of James Rutherford, wheelwright, engineer and flax miller, and his wife Martha Thompson; married (1900, New Zealand) Mary Georgina Newton, daughter of his landlady in Christchurch; one daughter, Eileen, born 1901; she married Ralph Fowler (FRS 1925); grandfather of Peter Fowler (FRS 1964) In the Rutherford Memorial Lecture by E Marsden (1948), published in the Physical Society, 1954, on page 49 it is mentioned that in his childhood, while at Nelson College, he returned home 'to take his full share of housefhold and garden chores at home and helped his father and his eldest brother George in the sawmilling and flaxmilling operations......He spent periods of his holiday with relatives earning pin money by hop-picking. It was on such a visit that he carved the potato-masher for his grandmother which is now held by the Royal Society.' Royal Society roles: PRS 1925-1930; VP 1922-1923 Medals and prizes: Rumford Medal 1904; Copley Medal 1922 Lectures: Bakerian 1904 and 1920 Fellow 11/06/1903 Sources: Bulloch's Roll; DNB; DSB; DNZB; www.rutherford.org.nz Obituaries: Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society 1936-1938 vol 2 pp 395-423, plate, by A S Eve and J Chadwick References: Sir Harold Hartley, 'The Ramsay Centenary' in NR 1953 vol 10 pp 71-80 Derek J Price, 'The Cavendish Laboratory Archives' in NR 1953 vol 10 pp 139-147 C T R Wilson, 'Reminiscences of My Early Years' in NR 1959 vol 14 pp 163-173 E N da C Andrade, 'Some Reminiscences of Ernest Marsden's Days with Rutherford at Manchester' in NR 1968 vol 23 pp 247-250 Sir Mark Oliphant, 'Some Personal Recollections of Rutherford, the Man' in NR 1972-3 vol 27 pp 7-23 Sir Harrie Massey, 'Nuclear Physics Today and in Rutherford's Day' in NR 1972-3 vol 27 pp 25-44 N Feather, 'Rutherford - Faraday - Newton' in NR 1972-3 vol 27 pp 45-55 Lord Blackett, 'Rutherford' in NR 1972-3 vol 27 pp 57-59 W Bennett Lewis, 'Some Recollections and Reflections on Rutherford' in NR 1972-3 vol 27 pp 61-63 Sir Nevill Mott, 'Rutherford and Theory' in NR 1972-3 vol 27 pp 65-66 P P O'Shea, 'Ernest Rutherford, his Honours and Distinctions' in NR 1972-3 vol 27 pp 67-74 J B Adams, 'Four Generations of Nuclear Physicists' in NR 1972-3 vol 27 pp 75-94, plate Anon., 'Rutherford Centenary Celebrations' in NR 1972-3 vol 27 p 5, plate J W Boag and D Shoenberg (trans and eds), 'Letters from Kapitza to his Mother, 1921-27' in NR 1988 vol 42 pp 205-228 Sir Rudolf Peierls, 'Rutherford and Bohr' in NR 1988 vol 42 pp 229-241 S Devons, 'Rutherford and the Science of His Day' in NR 1991 vol 45 pp 221-242, plate Robin J H Clark and Michael J Kelly, 'New Zealand, New Zealanders and the Royal Society' in NR 1994 vol 48 pp 263-281 Allan R Mackintosh, 'The Crocodile and the Elephant: Rutherford, Bohr and Quantum Physics' in NR 1997 vol 51 pp 309-316, plate G V R Born, FRS, 'The wide-ranging family history of Max Born' in NR 2002 vol 56 pp 219-262 R W Home, 'The Royal Society and the Empire: the colonial and Commonwealth Fellowship. Part 1. 1731-1847' in NR 2002 vol 56 pp 307-332 P Fara, ' Big bangs. Invisible rays: a history of radioactivity' by G I Brown 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 R Singh and F Riess, 'The nobel laureate Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman FRS and his contacts with the British Scientific community in a social and political context' in NR 2004 vol 58 pp 47-64 Neil Todd, 'A Brief History of Lord Rutherford's Radium' in NR 2014, vol 68, no3, pp 279-300 E Marsden 'Rutherford, by those who knew him' in Physical Society, 1954. Report of Rutherford Memorial Lecture (1948) Notes: Mistakenly registered in the birth records in New Zealand as 'Earnest' ©The Royal Society 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://pictures.royalsociety.org 30 Aug 1871 - 19 Oct 1937 NA8278 21/11/2001 Andyg Pmab 17/03/2026 RS_NET\VirginiaM Yes http://viaf.org/viaf/66546175 d1480234-7ae3-4bb0-a84c-712eacc66cbf