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Authorised form of nameBerkeley; Randal Thomas Mowbray Rawdon (1865 - 1942); 8th Earl Berkeley; physical chemist and landowner
Dates1865 - 1942
NationalityBritish
Place of birthIxelles, Brussels, Belgium, Europe
Date of birth31 January 1865
Place of deathBerkeley Castle, Gloucestershire, England
Date of death15/01/1942
OccupationPhysical chemist
Research fieldPhysical chemistry
ActivityEducation: Educated in France before moving to England to be coached for the Royal Navy at Burney's academy, Gosport; joined the cadet training ship Britannia berthed at Dartmouth (1878); served in various ships and attended the Royal Naval College, Greenwich (1880-1887)
Career: Resigned from the naval discipline to devote himself to science (1887); studied chemistry for a short period at the Royal College of Science and also attended lectures in other subjects, including geology; moved to Foxcombe near Oxford (1893); undertook research, in collaboration with Ernald Hartley, into the electrolysis of glass (1897); built a private laboratory at Foxcombe to research measurement of osmotic pressure (1898); joined in this endeavour by Ernald Harltey (1902); served on the council of the Chemical Society (1914-1918); earldom of Berkeley ended with him.
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election07/05/1908
Age at election43
RelationshipsParents: George Lennox Rawdon Berkeley (1827–1888) and his Cécile (d. 1914), daughter of Edward Drummond, count of Melfort, in the French nobility, and divorced wife of Admiral Sir F. B. R. Pellew (1789–1861).
Spouse: 1) Kate (d. 1898), daughter of William Brand, a landowner, and widow of Arthur Jackson, a composer and teacher at the Royal Academy of Music (1887) 2) Mrs Mary Emlen Lloyd (d. 1975), daughter of John Lowell of Boston, Massachusetts (1924)
Hereditary titles: Assumed title of Earl of Berkeley (1888) and established his right to the peerage (1891).
General contextBerkeley and Ernald Hartley created a device to measure osmotic pressures up to 150 atmospheres, utilising both direct and indirect methods. Initial discrepancies between the methods diminished through refinements and corrections. Attempts to express results using van der Waals-type equations proved unsuccessful in hindsight.
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Berkeley R T M R, GA WS 18945.jpg

SourcesSources:
Bulloch's Roll, DNB
Obituaries:
Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society 1942-1944 vol 4 pp 167-182, plate, by Harold Hartley
References:
Edmund J Bowen, 'The Balliol-Trinity Laboratories, Oxford 1853-1940' in NR 1970 vol 25 pp 227-236
Notes:
Scientific papers held by Trustees of the Berkeley Castle Muniments, c/o Gloucestershire Record Office, Clarence Row, Alvin Street, Gloucester, GL1 3DW
England
Royal Society codeNA8124
Archives associated with this Fellow
Reference numberTitleDate
EC/1908/02Berkeley, Randal Thomas Mowbray Rawdon, 8th Earl Berkeley: certificate of election to the Royal Society
MM/9/35Letter from Earl of Berkeley, Berkeley Castle, to AW Porter23 August 1931
MM/9/28Letter from Earl of Berkeley, The Laboratory, Foxcombe, to AW Porter4 October 1916
MM/9/26Letter from Earl of Berkeley, Marine Hotel, North Berwick, to AW Porter24 September 1916
MM/9/34Letter from Earl of Berkeley, Berkeley Castle, to AW Porter2 August 1931
MM/9/33Letter from Earl of Berkeley, Berkeley Castle, to AW Porter20 July 1931
MM/9/29Letter from Earl of Berkeley, The Laboratory, Foxcombe, to AW Porter16 October 1916
IM/GA/WS/18945Berkeley, Randal Thomas Mowbray Rawdonnd
MM/9/36Letter from Earl of Berkeley, Berkeley Castle, to AW Porter29 August 1931
RR/24/8Referee's report by Samuel Walter Johnson Smith, on a paper 'On osmotic pressures derived from vapour-pressure measurements: Aqueous solutions of cane sugar and methyl glucoside' by Randal Thomas Mowbray Rawdon Berkeley, 8th Earl Berkeley, E G J Hartley and C V Burton[March 1917]
RR/17/377Referee's report by John Henry Poynting, on a paper 'The osmotic pressures of calcium ferrocyande solutions, part II, weak solutions' by Randal Thomas Mowbray Berkeley, E G J Hartley and J StephensonFebruary 1909
RR/17/255Referee's report by Joseph Larmor, on a paper 'The osmotic pressures of aqueous solutions of calcium ferrocyanide. Part I - concentrated solutions' by Randal Thomas Mowbray Berkeley, J Hartley and C V Burton12 July 1908
RR/16/147Referee's report by Hugh Longbourne Callendar, on a paper 'Saturated solutions' by Randal Thomas Mowbray Rawdon BerkeleyApril 1904
RR/17/248Referee's report by Hugh Longbourne Callendar, on a paper 'Contributions to the osmotic theory of solution' by Randal Thomas Mowbray Berkeley and C V Burton5 December 1908
RR/17/252Letter from the Secretary of the Royal Society, on a paper 'Contributions to the osmotic theory of solution' to Randal Thomas Mowbray Berkeley15 December 1908
NLB/38/11Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to The Right Honorable The Earl of Berkeley, Fellow of the Royal Society1 June 1908
NLB/39/656Copy letter from Joseph Larmor to The Earl of Berkeley, Fellow of the Royal Society19 February 1909
NLB/37/873Copy Letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to The Earl of Berkeley28 May 1908
NLB/37/891Copy Letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Harrison & Sons30 May 1908
NLB/39/123Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Professor J [Joseph[ Larmor, Secretary of the Royal Society, St John's College, Cambridge28 November 1908
NLB/37/871Copy Letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to W [William] Barlow, Fellow of the Royal Society26 May 1908
NLB/39/174Copy letter from Joseph Larmor to Lord Berkeley5 December 1908
NLB/38/586Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to The Earl of Berkeley, [Randal Thomas Mowbray Rawdon Berkeley], Fellow of the Royal Society1 October 1908
NLB/39/739Copy letter from Joseph Larmor to The Earl of Berkeley4 March 1909
NLB/39/554Copy letter from Joseph Larmor to Lord BerkeleyUndated
NLB/39/328Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Professor Joseph Larmor, Secretary of the Royal Society5 January 1909
NLB/39/585Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to The Earl of BerkeleyFebruary 1909
NLB/45/686Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to the Right Honourable, the Earl of Berkeley FRS23 April 1912
RR/17/249Referee's report by Hugh Longbourne Callendar, on a paper 'Contributions to the osmotic theory of solution' by Randal Thomas Mowbray Berkeley and C V Burton5 December 1908
NLB/54/370Copy letter from [Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society]; to the Earl of Berkley, FRS25 April 1917
NLB/53/245Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to The Earl of Berkeley, FRS09 June 1916
RR/17/9Referee's report by Joseph Larmor, on a paper 'On the osmotic pressures of some concentrated aqueous solutions' by Randal Thomas Mowbray Rawdon Berkeley and E G J Hartley7 June 1906
RR/23/3Referee's report by Hugh Longbourne Callendar, on a paper 'Further determinations of direct osmotic pressures' by the Earl of Berkely and E G J HuntleyJune 1916
RR/17/256Referee's report by W C D Whetham, on a paper 'The osmotic pressures of aqueous solutions of calcium ferrocyanide. Part I - concentrated solutions' by Randal Thomas Mowbray Berkeley, J Hartley and C V BurtonJuly 1908
RR/17/8Referee's report by Hugh Longbourne Callendar, on a paper 'On the osmotic pressures of some concentrated aqueous solutions' by Randal Thomas Mowbray Rawdon Berkeley and E G J Hartley[June 1906]
RR/17/250Letter from the Secretary of the Royal Society, on a paper 'Contributions to the osmotic theory of solution' to Randal Thomas Mowbray Berkeley5 December 1908
MM/9/37Letter from Earl of Berkeley, Berkeley Castle, to AW Porter6 September 1931
MM/9/38Letter from Earl of Berkeley, Berkeley Castle, to AW Porter11 September 1931
MM/9/25Randal Thomas Mowbray Rawdon Berkeley, Eighth Earl of Berkeley, Foxcombe, to AW Porter29 May 1908
MM/9/32Letter from Earl of Berkeley, Berkeley Castle, to AW PorterJuly 1931
RR/17/251Letter from Randal Thomas Mowbray Berkeley, on his paper 'Contributions to the osmotic theory of solution', to the Secretary of the Royal Society6 December 1908
RR/39/20Referee's report by Frederick George Donnan, on a paper 'The density of the vapours in equilibrium with water, ethyl alcohol, methyl alcohol and benzene' by Randal Thomas Mowbray Rawdon Berkeley and E Stenhouse[December 1929]
RR/17/253Report by Randal Thomas Mowbray Berkeley, on his paper 'Contributions to the osmotic theory of solution' to the Secretary of the Royal Society25 December 1908
RR/17/376Referee's report by W C D Whetham, on a paper 'The osmotic pressures of calcium ferrocyande solutions, part II, weak solutions' by Randal Thomas Mowbray Berkeley, E G J Hartley and J Stephenson23 January 1909
MS/603/1/84Letter from [Randal Mowbray Thomas Rawdon Berkeley, 8th Earl of] Berkeley, Foxcombe, near Oxford, to [Joseph] Larmor20 May 1908
MS/603/1/88Letter from [Randal Mowbray Thomas Rawdon Berkeley, 8th Earl of] Berkeley, Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire, to [Joseph] Larmor5 September 1918
MS/603/1/79Letter from [Randal Mowbray Thomas Rawdon Berkeley, 8th Earl of] Berkeley, Foxcombe, near Oxford, to [Joseph] Larmor2 December 1906
MS/603/1/85Letter from [Randal Mowbray Thomas Rawdon Berekeley, 8th Earl of] Berkeley, L'Ermitage, Evian (Haute Savoie), to [Joseph] Larmor15 August 1908
MS/603/1/86Letter from [Randal Mowbray Thomas Rawdon Berkeley, 8th Earl of] Berkeley, Foxcombe, near Oxford, to [Joseph] Larmor30 December 1909
MS/603/1/90Letter from [Randal Mowbray Thomas Rawdon Berkeley, 8th Earl of] Berkeley, Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire, to [Joseph] Larmor13 September 1918
MS/603/1/89Letter from [Randal Mowbray Thomas Rawdon Berkeley, 8th Earl of] Berkeley, Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire, to Joseph Larmor9 September 1918
MS/603/1/80Letter from [Randal Mowbray Thomas Rawdon Berkeley, 8th Earl of] Berkeley, Foxcombe, near Oxford, to [Joseph] Larmor4 December 1906
RR/16/148Referee's report by William Cecil Dampier Whetham, on a paper 'Saturated solutions' by Randal Thomas Mowbray Rawdon BerkeleyApril 1904
RR/17/254Referee's report by Hugh Longbourne Callendar, on a paper 'Contributions to the osmotic theory of solution' by Randal Thomas Mowbray Berkeley and C V Burton1908
RR/24/7Referee's report by Hugh Longbourne Callendar, on a paper 'On osmotic pressures derived from vapour-pressure measurements: Aqueous solutions of cane sugar and methyl glucoside' by Randal Thomas Mowbray Rawdon Berkeley, 8th Earl Berkeley, E G J Hartley and C V Burton[March 1917]
RR/39/19Referee's report by James Walker, on a paper 'The density of the vapours in equilibrium with water, ethyl alcohol, methyl alcohol and benzene' by Randal Thomas Mowbray Rawdon Berkeley and E Stenhouse[December 1929]
MC/23/46Letter from [Randal Thomas Mowbray Rawdon] Berkeley, Foxcombe, Nr Oxford, to The Royal Society23 May 1908
MS/603/1/77Letter from [Randal Mowbray Thomas Rawdon Berkeley, 8th Earl of] Berkeley, Eskadale, Beauly, to [Joseph] Larmor17 August 1906
MS/603/1/87Letter from [Randal Mowbray Thomas Rawdon Berkeley, 8th Earl of] Berkeley, Foxcombe, near Oxford, to [Joseph] Larmor11 July 1917
MS/603/1/83Letter from [Randal Mowbray Thomas Rawdon Berkeley, 8th Earl of] Berkeley, Foxcombe, near Oxford, to [Joseph] Larmor1 February 1907
MS/603/1/82Letter from [Randal Mowbray Thomas Rawdon Berkeley, 8th Earl of] Berkeley, Foxcombe, near Oxford, to [Joseph] Larmor17 December 1906
MS/603/1/78Letter from [Randal Mowbray Thomas Rawdon Berkeley, 8th Earl of] Berkeley, Foxcombe, near Oxford, to [Joseph] Larmor29 November 1906
MS/603/1/76Letter from [Randal Mowbray Thomas Rawdon Berkeley, 8th Earl of] Berkeley, Foxcombe, near Oxford, to [Joseph] Larmor5 June 1906
MS/603/1/81Letter from [Randal Mowbray Thomas Rawdon Berkeley, 8th Earl of] Berkeley, Foxcombe, near Oxford, to [Joseph] Larmor13 December 1906
MC/23Volume 23 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1908
MC/21Volume 21 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1906
MC/21/38Letter from Randal Thomas Mowbray Berkeley, Foxcombe, near Oxford, to the Royal Society1 June 1906
MC/32/25Letter from [Randal Thomas Mowbray Rawdon] Berkeley, The Laboratory, Foxcombe, Nr Oxford, to [Arthur] Schuster, [Royal Society]30 April 1917
NLB/54/404Copy letter from [Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society]; to The Earl of Berkeley, FRS4 May 1917
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