Chairs of Chemistry in Great Britain

Abstract

IN Nature of January 26, Prof. Alex. Findlay rightly challenges the claim that the regius chair of chemistry in the University of Glasgow founded in 1818 was the first chair of chemistry in Britain. Had he confined himself to Scottish chairs, his plea for the recognition of the Aberdeen chair founded in 1793 would have been valid, but surely he goes too far in claiming the latter as the first in Great Britain. At least one chair—that which, under the revised title of organic chemistry, I have had the honour of occupying since 1944—antedates the Aberdeen foundation by close on a century. According to the University Ordinances, the chair of chemistry in the University of Cambridge was created (albeit with no stipend) in 1702, its first occupant being John Francis Vigani, who had been settled in Cambridge for some years before that time as a private tutor in chemistry. Vigani's successors in office (with dates of their election) were: J. Waller (1713); J. Micklebourgh (1718); J. Hadley (1756); R. Watson (1764); I. Pennington (1773); W. Farish (1794); S. Tennant (1813); J. Cumming (1815); G. D. Liveing (1861); W. J. Pope (1908). An account of the history of the chair and of the University Chemical Laboratory was published in 1928 by Dr. F. G. Mann (Chem. and Indust., 6, 690 (1928).