Harold Baily Dixon
Lytham, England | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford |
| Awards | Royal Medal (1913) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Chemist |
| Doctoral advisor | Vernon Harcourt |
Harold Baily Dixon
Early life
Born in Marylebone,[1] London, England, he attended Westminster School from 1865 to 1871, and then studied at Christ Church, Oxford under Vernon Harcourt, graduating as B.A. with First Class Honours in Natural Science in 1875 and M.A. in 1878.[1]
Academic and scientific career
Dixon was Millard Lecturer at
On the opening of the first women's colleges in 1879, Dixon was instrumental in allowing women to attend physics lectures. Margaret Seward was a prominent beneficiary of Dixon's proposition.
Dixon served as Professor of Chemistry, succeeding Sir
His expertise in the chemistry behind the cause of mine explosions was availed of by governments of the day. He served on the Royal Commissions on Explosion of Coal Dust in Mines from 1891 to 1894, and on the Coal Supply from 1902 to 1905, as well as the Home Office Committee on Explosions in Mines from 1911 to 1914[2]
Dixon was elected a Fellow of the
In 1907-08 and again in 1923-25 he was President of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society.[1]
During the
In 1922 he was appointed Honorary Professor of Chemistry at
Dixon, who made his home in Fallowfield, Manchester, died in
Football career
Usually in the position of forward, Dixon played football for Westminster School in his final year 1870–71. When he started at university he was a founder member of Oxford University's Amateur Football Club at its inception on 9 November 1871. He played with them in the second competition for the FA Cup when Oxford reached the Cup Final, played at
Other sports
Dixon was a good cricketer who was in the Westminster School XI, which he captained in his final season.[1]
He was more noticeably active in mountaineering, undertaking exploring climbs in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, and was a member of the British Alpine Club, the Canadian Alpine Club, and the Rucksack Club of Manchester.[1]
Sports honours
Oxford University A.F.C.
- 1873 FA Cup final (runner-up).
References
- ^ ISBN 1-899468-78-1.
- ^ Who Was Who, 1929 to 1940. Adam & Charles Black. 1947. p. 369.
- ^ Citation not found in London Gazette for Harold Baily Dixon
Sources
- Entry for Dixon in the Royal Society's Library and Archive catalogue's details of Fellows (accessed 27 April 2008)
- DIXON, Harold Baily, Biographical Database of the British Chemical Community, 1880–1970, from the Open University
- Physics in Oxford, 1839-1939: Laboratories, Learning, and College Life, Robert Fox and Graeme Gooday, ed.
- "Obituary Notices: Harold Baily Dixon". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. 134 (825): i–xxvi. 1932. JSTOR 95888.
External links
- Harold Bailey Dixon, photograph from the Edgar Fahs Smith Collection at the University of Pennsylvania Library
- The Chemical Society 1897 to 1944, includes a picture of Dixon, from the Royal Society of Chemistry