Record

Authorised form of nameNuttall; George Henry Falkiner (1862 - 1937); bacteriologist
Dates1862 - 1937
NationalityAmerican
British
Place of birthSan Francisco, California, USA
Date of birth05 July 1862
Place of deathThe Craven Hotel, London, England
Date of death16/12/1937
Dates and placesCremated at Golders Green on 21 December 1937.
OccupationBacteriologist
Research fieldZoology
Parasitology
Bacteriology
ActivityEducation:
MA (Camb); MD (Calif); PhD (Göttingen)
Career:
Returned to Europe soon after birth; subsequently held positions in both America and Britain; discovered that defibrinated blood possesses a strong bactericidal property against anthrax bacilli, and that this property disappears on heating the blood to 55 °C which paved the way for the study of humoral immunity and was the forerunner of the discovery of anti-toxic immunity (1888); studied the anaerobic gas-forming micro-organism (Clostridium welchii) with William Welch (1892); in collaboration with H. Thierfelder, carried out the first successful experiments on life under aseptic conditions; gave a course of lectures on bacteriology at Cambridge (1899); appointed university lecturer at Cambridge in bacteriology and preventive medicine (1900); Demonstrated that the disappearance of malaria from England was not due to the extinction of the mosquito genus Anopheles (1901); founded the Journal of Hygiene which he edited up to the time of his death, and in 1908 Parasitology, which he edited until 1933 (1901); published his monograph Blood Immunity and Blood Relationship, where he demonstrated a distinct similarity in chemical structure of the blood of animals related phylogenetically (1904); elected the first Quick Professor of Biology at Cambridge and a Fellow of Magdalen College, tasked with the specialist study of 'protozoa, especially such as cause disease' (1906); instrumental in the erection of the Molteno Institute for Research in Parasitology (1921); resigned the Quick professorship (1931); became emeritus professor of biology; died suddenly on the eve of a dinner in his honour to be given by colleagues upon his retirement from his editorship of the Journal of Hygiene (1937).
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election05/05/1904
Age at election42
ProposerJohn Burdon Sanderson; John Scott Haldane; Walter Holbrook Gaskell; Thomas Clifford Allbutt; Harry Marshall Ward; William Osler; John Rose Bradford; Patrick Manson; Edward Emmanuel Klein; Alfred Cort Haddon; Charles Scott Sherrington
RelationshipsParents: Robert Kennedy Nuttall MD, from Tittour, co. Wicklow, and Magdalena, daughter of John Parrott of San Francisco.
Spouse: Paula (d. 1922), daughter of Kammerherr Hans von Oertzen-Kittendorf of Mecklenburg (1895).
Children: George; Winfred; Carmelita.
Published worksRCN 57037
RCN 57036
General contextFurthered knowledge of parasites and insect carriers of disease.
Made significant innovative discoveries in immunology, blood chemistry, and diseases transmitted by arthropods.
Investigated the distribution of Anopheline mosquitoes in England in relation to the previous prevalence of malaria there.
Identified, in collaboration with William Welch, the organism responsible for causing gas gangrene.
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; DNB
Obituaries:
Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society 1936-1938 vol 2 pp 493-499, plate, by G S Graham-Smith and D Keilin
Virtual International Authority Filehttp://viaf.org/viaf/56600462
Royal Society codeNA1571
Archives associated with this Fellow
Reference numberTitleDate
EC/1904/12Nuttall, George Henry Falkiner: certificate of election to the Royal Society
IM/003352Nuttall, George Henry Falkinernd
IM/003353Nuttall, George Henry Falkinercirca 1910
NLB/40/596Copy letter from John Rose Bradford to Professor G [George] H [Henry] F [Falkiner] Nuttall FRS 30 June 1909
NLB/67/106Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [George Henry Falkiner] Nuttall, FRS23 October 1924
NLB/27/77Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Dr George Henry Falkiner Nuttall, 3 Cramer Road, Cambridge26 June 1903
NLB/52/430Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor John Stanley Gardiner, Chairman of the Zoology Committee and FRS7 December 1915
NLB/37/520Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Professor G [George] H [Henry] F [Falkiner] Nuttall, Fellow of the Royal Society, 3 Gammen Road, Cambridge1 April 1908
NLB/26/614Copy letter from Sir Michael Foster to, Dr [George Henry Falkiner] Nutall, [Fellow of the Royal Society]1 May 1903
MC/23/327Letter from [George Henry Falkiner] Nuttall, 3 Cranmer Road, Cambridge, to [Joseph] Larmor, [Royal Society]24 April 1908
NLB/29/742Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Dr [George] Henry Falkiner Nuttall, Fellow of the Royal Society5 December 1904
NLB/37/518Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Professor S [Sidney Harris Cox] Martin, Fellow of the Royal Society, Chairman of the Phyisology Sectional Committee1 April 1908
NLB/34/711Copy letter from Archibald Geikie, to Dr [George Henry Falkiner] Nutall, [Fellow of the Royal Society]1 March 1907
NLB/40/315Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Professor G [George] H [Henry] F [Falkiner] Nuttall FRS 24 May 1909
NLB/38/140Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor George Henry Falkiner Nuttall, Fellow of the Royal Society19 June 1908
NLB/37/562Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Dr G [George] H [Henry] F [Falkiner] Nuttall, Fellow of the Royal Society6 April 1908
NLB/37/411Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Professor S [Sidney Harris Cox] Martin, Fellow of the Royal Society, Chairman of the Physiology Sectional Committee16 March 1908
NLB/37/531Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Dr G [George] H [Henry] F [Falkiner] Nuttall, Fellow of the Royal Society3 April 1908
NLB/37/613Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Professor S [Sidney Harris Cox] Martin, Fellow of the Royal Society, Chairman of the Physiology Sectional Committee. 13 April 1908
NLB/39/333Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Dr C [Charles] J [James] Martin, Fellow of the Royal Society5 January 1909
NLB/40/311Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to F C Garrett, Sc.D24 May 1909
NLB/40/489Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Professor G [George] H [Henry] F [Falkiner] Nuttall FRS, Alperton Lodge, Wenbley, SO, Middlesex15 June 1909
NLB/40/507Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Professor G [George] H [Henry] F [Falkiner] Nuttall FRS 17 June 1909
NLB/44/4Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Professor G [George] H [Henry] F [Falkiner] Nuttall, FRS 12 April 1911
NLB/44/868Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Professor G [George] H [Henry] F [Falkiner] Nuttall FRS4 December 1911
RR/20/159Referee's report by George Henry Falkiner Nuttall, on a paper 'On a remarkable new type of protistan parasite' by H M Woodcock and G Lapage6 May 1913
NLB/54/2Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [George Henry Falkiner] Nuttall, FRS11 January 1917
NLB/54/1Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [George Henry Falkiner] Nuttall, FRS10 January 1917
NLB/58/464Copy letter from Edwin Deller, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [George Henry Falkiner] Nuttall, FRS7 May 1920
NLB/53/430Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [George Henry Falkiner] Nuttall, FRS08 August 1916
RR/22/97Referee's report by George Henry Falkiner Nuttall, on a paper 'Soil protozoa and soil bacteria' by Edward John Russell11 May 1915
NLB/60/21Copy letter from Edwin Deller, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [George Henry Falkiner] Nuttall, FRS3 December 1920
NLB/56/670Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [George Henry Falkiner] Nuttall, FRS10 April 1919
NLB/56/862Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [George Henry Falkiner] Nuttall, FRS17 June 1919
RR/20/104Referee's report by George Henry Falkiner Nuttall on a paper 'Notes on Toxoplasma gondii' by Helen L M Pixell5 May 1913
NLB/59/409Copy letter from Edwin Deller, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [George Henry Falkiner] Nuttall, FRS29 September 1920
NLB/59/355Copy letter from Edwin Deller, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [George Henry Falkiner] Nuttall, FRS22 September 1920
RR/17/288Referee's report by George Henry Falkiner Nuttall, on a paper 'Variations in the phagocytic power of leucocytes from different individuals' by E Glynn and Warrington YorkeMarch 1908
NLB/60/470Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [George Henry Falkiner] Nuttall, FRS11 February 1921
RR/20/52Referee's report by George Henry Falkiner Nuttall, on a paper 'The excystation of colpoda cucullus from its resting cysts, and the nature and properties of the cyst membranes' by Tom GoodeyMarch 1913
RR/17/344Referee's report by George Henry Falkiner Nuttall, on a paper 'The determination of a coefficient by which the rate of stain and other substances into living cells can be measured and by which bacteria and other cells may be differentiated' by H C Ross22 January 1909
NLB/62/901Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [George Henry Falkiner] Nuttall, FRS31 May 1922
RR/17/274Referee's report by George Henry Falkiner Nuttall, on a paper 'On the presence of hœm-agglutinins, hœm-opsonins, and hœmolysins in the blood obtained from infectious and non-infectious diseases in man' by Leonard Dudgeon[August 1908]
NLB/57/77Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to [Arthur Everett] Shipley, FRS, Zoology Sectional Committee12 July 1919
NLB/57/147Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to GHF [George Henry Falkiner ] Nuttall, FRS29 July 1919
NLB/61/29Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [George Henry Falkiner] Nuttall, FRS29 April 1921
NLB/67/153Copy letter from William Bate Hardy, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [George Henry Falkiner] Nuttall, FRS6 November 1924
NLB/71/3Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Prof. [George Henry Falkiner] Nutthall, FRS1 December 1927
NLB/71/21Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Prof. [George Henry Falkiner] Nutthall, FRS6 December 1927
NLB/73/367Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Prof. [Arthur Edwin] Boycott, FRS8 July 1931
CD/1/4Copy letter from Professor [George Henry Falkiner] Nuttall, to [Sir Arthur Everett] Shipley25 July 1914
NLB/67/440Copy letter from William Bate Hardy, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [George Henry Falkiner] Nuttall, FRS20 December 1924
NLB/28/719Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Dr George Henry Falkiner Nuttall, Fellow of the Royal Society6 May 1904
RR/17/392Referee's report by George Henry Falkiner Nuttall, on a paper 'On the presence of hæm-agglutinin and hæmolysins in the blood obtained from infectious and non-infectious diseases in man. (Third report.)' by L S Dudgeon and H A F Wilson26 September 1909
RR/22/134Referee's report by George Henry Falkiner Nuttall on a paper 'Observations on coprozoic flagellates: Together with a suggestion as to the significance of the kinetonucleus in the binucleata' by H M WoodcockDecember 1915
NLB/72/616Copy letter from Henry Hallett Dale, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [George Henry Falkiner] Nuttall, FRS23 January 1930
NLB/57New Letter Book volume 57, copy letters sent from Royal Society administration27 June 1919-27 February 1920
MC/26/181Letter from [George Henry Falkiner] Nuttall, 3 Cranmer Road, Cambridge, to Professor [John] Rose Bradford, [Royal Society], London, W10 April 1911
NLB/26/580Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to, George Henry Falkiner Nuttall, [Fellow of the Royal Society], 3 Cranmer Road, Cambridge23 April 1903
MC/19/653Letter from George [Henry Falkiner] Nuttall, University of Cambridge, Subsyndicate for Tropical Medicine and Hygeine, to Professor [Edwin] Ray Lankester17 November 1904
MC/24/85Letter from Professor [George Henry Falkiner] Nutall, to Professor [John Rose] Bradford, Secretary, [Royal Society]15 June 1909
MC/19Volume 19 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1904
MC/19/654Letter from George [Henry Falkiner] Nuttall, The Journal of Hygiene, to [Robert William Frederick] Harrison6 December 1904
MC/22/300Letter from [George Henry Falkiner] Nuttall, 3 Cranmer Road, Cambridge, to Sir Archibald [Geikie]2 March 1907
MC/22Volume 22 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1907
MC/38Volume 38 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1924
MC/38/78Letter from George [Henry Falkiner] Nuttall, Logfield, Madingley Road, Cambridge, to William [Bate] Hardy, Secretary of the Royal Society, Burlington House, London21 October 1924
Add to My Items

    Collection highlights

    Browse the records of some of our collections, which cover all branches of science and date from the 12th century onwards. These include the published works of Fellows of the Royal Society, personal papers of eminent scientists, letters and manuscripts sent to the Society or presented at meetings, and administrative records documenting the Society's activities since our foundation in 1660.

    The Royal Society

    The Royal Society is a Fellowship of many of
    the world's most eminent scientists and is the
    oldest scientific academy in continuous existence.
    Registered charity number 207043

    Website design ©CalmView



    CONTACT US

    + 44 207 451 2500
    (Lines open Mon-Fri, 9:00-17:00. Excludes bank holidays)

    6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AG

    Email Us →

    SUBSCRIBE

    Subscribe to our newsletters to be updated with the
    latest news on innovation, events, articles and reports.

    Subscribe →

    © CalmView