Chemical Society

The Chemical Society was formed in 1841 (then named the Chemical Society of London) by 77 scientists as a result of increased interest in scientific matters.

One of its aims was to hold meetings for "the communication and discussion of discoveries and observations, an account of which shall be published by the Society". In 1847, its importance was recognised by a Royal Charter, which added to its role in the advancement of science, the development of chemical applications in industry. Its members included eminent chemists from overseas including August Wilhelm von Hofmann, who became its president in 1861. Membership was open to all those interested in chemistry, but fellowship was for long restricted to men.

In 1904, Edith Humphrey, thought to be the first British woman to gain a doctorate in chemistry (at the University of Zurich), was one of nineteen women chemists to petition the Chemical Society for admission of women to fellowship. This was eventually granted in 1919, and Humphrey was subsequently elected to fellowship.

The Chemical Society of London succeeded where a number of previous chemical associations - the Lunar Society's London branch chemical society of the 1780s, the Animal Chemical Club of 1805, the London Chemical Society of 1824 - failed. One assertion of a cause of success of the Chemical Society of London is that it was, unlike its forerunners, a "fruitful amalgamation of the technological and academic chemist".

Its activities expanded over the years, including eventually becoming a major publisher in the field of chemistry. In 1980, it amalgamated with the Royal Institute of Chemistry, the Faraday Society and the Society for Analytical Chemistry to become the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Presidents

• Thomas Graham: 1841–1843
• Arthur Aikin: 1843–1845
• Thomas Graham: 1845–1847
• William Thomas Brande: 1847–1849
• Richard Phillips: 1849–1851
• Professor Charles Daubeny: 1851–1853
• Colonel Philip Yorke: 1853–1855
• William Allen Miller: 1855–1857
• Sir Lyon Playfair: 1857–1859
• Sir Benjamin Brodie: 1859–1861
• August Wilhelm von Hofmann: 1861–1863
• Alexander William Williamson: 1863–1865
• William Allen Miller: 1865–1867
• Warren de la Rue: 1867–1869
• Alexander William Williamson: 1869–1871
• Sir Edward Frankland: 1871–1873
• William Odling: 1873–1875
• Sir Frederick Augustus Abel: 1875–1877
• John Hall Gladstone: 1877–1878
• Warren de la Rue: 1879–1880
• Sir Henry Enfield Roscoe: 1880–1882
• Sir Joseph Henry Gilbert: 1882–1883
• William Henry Perkin: 1883–1885
• Hugo Muller: 1885–1887
• Sir William Crookes: 1887–1889
• William James Russell: 1889–1891
• Alexander Crum Brown: 1891–1893
• Henry Edward Armstrong: 1893–1895
• Augustus George Vernon Harcourt: 1895–1897
• Sir James Dewar: 1897–1899
• Sir Thomas Edward Thorpe: 1899–1901
• James Emerson Reynolds: 1901–1903
• William Augustus Tilden: 1903–1905
• Raphael Meldola: 1905–1907
• Sir William Ramsay: 1907–1909
• Harold Baily Dixon: 1909–1911
• Percy Faraday Frankland: 1911–1913
• Sir William Henry Perkin Jnr: 1913–1915
• Alexander Scott: 1915–1917
• Sir William Jackson Pope: 1917–1919
• James Johnston Dobbie: 1919–1921
• Sir James Walker: 1921–1923
• William Palmer Wynne: 1923–1925
• Arthur William Crossley: 1925–1926
• Herbert Brereton Baker: 1926–1928
• Sir Jocelyn Field Thorpe: 1928–1931
• Professor George Gerald Henderson: 1931–1933
• Sir Gilbert Thomas Morgan: 1933–1935
• Professor Nevil Vincent Sidgwick: 1935–1937
• Sir Frederick George Donnan: 1937–1939
• Sir Robert Robinson: 1939–1941
• James Charles Philip: 1941 to August 1941
• William Hobson Mills: 1941–1944
• Walter Norman Haworth: 1944–1946
• Sir Cyril Norman Hinshelwood: 1946–1948
• Sir Ian Morris Heilbron: 1948–1950
• Sir Eric Keightley Rideal: 1950–1952
• Sir Christopher Kelk Ingold: 1952–1954
• William Wardlaw: 1954–1956
• Sir Edmund Langley Hirst: 1956–1958
• Harry Julius Emeleus: 1958–1960
• Lord Alexander Robertus Todd: 1960–1962
• John Monteath Robertson: 1962–1964
• Sir Ewart Ray Herbert Jones: 1964–1966
• Sir Harry Work Melville: 1966–1968
• Sir Ronald Sydney Nyholm: 1968–1970
• Lord George Porter: 1970–1972
• Sir Frederick Sydney Dainton: 1972–1973
• Sir Derek Harold Richard Barton: 1973–1974
• Jack Wheeler Barrett: 1974–1975
• Frank Arnold Robinson: 1975–1976
• Cyril Clifford Addison: 1976–1977
• Alan Woodworth Johnson: 1977–1978
• Theodore Morris Sugden: 1978–1979
• Dr Alfred Spinks: 1979–1980

See also

• Journal of the Chemical Society
• Proceedings of the Chemical Society
• Chemical Society Reviews

References

• History of Royal Society of Chemistry and the former societies