Thomas Richardson (chemist)

Thomas Richardson

Life

Born on 8 October 1816 in

On his return to Newcastle, Richardson became a specialist in manufacturing chemistry, taking out a number of patents for processes. In 1840 he began, at Blaydon, near Newcastle, to remove the impurities, consisting chiefly of antimony, from "hard" lead, and thus to convert it into "soft" lead, by means of a current of air driven over the molten metal; the impurities were oxidised, floated to the surface, and were then skimmed off. Practical improvements introduced into the process by George Burnett soon after led to the annual importation of several thousand tons of Spanish hard lead into the Tyne district, where it was purified. John Percy brought forward evidence that Richardson was not the inventor of this process, quoting a letter from James Leathart, and stating that a patent for it was granted to Walter Hall in 1814.

In 1844 Richardson began at Blaydon the manufacture of

In June 1856 Richardson was made lecturer on chemistry in the university of Durham, and the degree of M.A. was conferred on him by that university. Richardson became an associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers on 3 May 1864, was elected Fellow of the Royal Society on 7 June 1866, and fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in the same year. He was also a member of the Royal Irish Academy.

Richardson died of apoplexy in Wigan on 10 July 1867.

Works

With Pelouze he published, in 1838, a research on the action of water on cyanogen and the consequent formation of azulmic acid (i.e. oligomers of hydrogen cyanide that are insoluble in water^[1]).

In 1847, together with Edmund Ronalds, he began to translate Friedrich Ludwig Knapp's Technological Chemistry, which was published between 1848 and 1851. A second edition, in five parts, published in 1855, was rewritten so as to form a new work. Henry Watts replaced Ronalds as Richardson's collaborator for the last three of the five parts; and the book, which was recognised as a standard work, was incorporated by Charles Edward Groves and William Thorp in their Chemical Technology.

In 1855, together with

He published, with Armstrong and James Longridge, three major reports (dated 25 August 1857 and 16 January 1858) on the use of the Steam Coals of the Hartley District of Northumberland in Steam-Boilers, addressed to the Steam Collieries Association of Newcastle-on-Tyne. The reports contain a record of a large and carefully conducted series of experiments; the conclusions were opposed to those of

• "Richardson, Thomas (1816-1867)" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

Notes

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Richardson, Thomas (1816-1867)". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.