Major-General Edward Robert Festing (10 August 1839 – 16 May 1912), English

army officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an Military, armed force or Uniformed services, uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warra ...

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

, and first Director of the

Science Museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, Industry (manufacturing), industry and Outline of industrial ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

.Major-General E. R. Festing, C.B., F.R.S.
''

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

'', Volume 89, Issue 2221, pages 299–299, 23 May 1912. He contributed to

infrared spectroscopy Infrared spectroscopy (IR spectroscopy or vibrational spectroscopy) is the measurement of the interaction of infrared radiation with matter by absorption, emission, or reflection. It is used to study and identify chemical substances or functio ...

research with Sir William Abney in the 1880s. Festing was born in

Frome, Somerset Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills and on the River Frome, south of Bath. The population of the parish was 28,559 in 2021. Frome was one of the largest tow ...

, the son of Richard Grindall Festing and Eliza Mammatt.Edward Robert Festing (9522)
PhpGedView. He was educated at

Carshalton Carshalton ( ) is a town, with a historic village centre, in south London, England, within the London Borough of Sutton. It is situated around southwest of Charing Cross and around east by north of Sutton town centre, in the valley of the Rive ...

and

King's College School King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The s ...

. He was transferred to the Royal Military Academy at

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

and then "

gazetted A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...

" as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

at the age of only fifteen. With Sir

William de Wiveleslie Abney Sir William de Wiveleslie Abney (24 July 1843 – 3 December 1920) was an English astronomer, chemist, and photographer. Life and career Abney was born in Derby, England, the son of Rev. Edward Henry Abney (1811–1892), vicar of St Alkm ...

(also a graduate of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich), Festing studied the

infrared Infrared (IR; sometimes called infrared light) is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than that of visible light but shorter than microwaves. The infrared spectral band begins with the waves that are just longer than those ...

absorption spectra Absorption may refer to: Chemistry and biology * Absorption (biology), digestion ** Absorption (small intestine) * Absorption (chemistry), diffusion of particles of gas or liquid into liquid or solid materials * Absorption (skin), a route by whic ...

of a number of organic and inorganic chemical compounds. In 1881, they established that the absorption bands were associated with groups of atoms in the molecules rather than the entire molecule. They postulated the correlation of different bands to specific groupings, for instance the

nitro group In organic chemistry, nitro compounds are organic compounds that contain one or more nitro functional groups (). The nitro group is one of the most common explosophores (functional group that makes a compound explosive) used globally. The nit ...

nitrobenzene Nitrobenzene is an aromatic nitro compound and the simplest of the nitrobenzenes, with the chemical formula C6H5 NO2. It is a water-insoluble pale yellow oil with an almond-like odor. It freezes to give greenish-yellow crystals. It is produced ...

. In 1885, Abney and Festing developed a colour

photometer A photometer is an instrument that measures the strength of electromagnetic radiation in the range from ultraviolet to infrared and including the visible spectrum. Most photometers convert light into an electric current using a photoresistor, ...

and undertook a range of

colour Color (or colour in Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though color is not an inherent property of matter, color perception is related to an object's light absorp ...

measurements. E. R. Festing joined the

South Kensington Museum South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

in 1864. He became one of two assistant directors at the

. On the retirement of the Director of the museum, Sir

Philip Cunliffe-Owen Sir Francis Philip Cunliffe-Owen (8 June 1828 – 23 March 1894) was an exhibition organizer and the Director of the South Kensington Museum in London. Early life Philip Cunliffe-Owen was a British subject born in Switzerland, the son of Capt ...

, in 1893, the museum was split into an Art Museum (which subsequently became known as the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

) and a Science Museum. Festing became the first Director of the newly formed Science Museum. Festing was elected a

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of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

(FRS) on 4 June 1886. He was appointed a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

(CB) in the

1900 New Year Honours The 1900 New Year Honours were appointments by Queen Victoria to various orders and honours of the United Kingdom and British India. The list was published in ''The Times'' on 1 January 1900, and the various honours were gazetted in ''The Londo ...

list on 1 January 1900 (the order was gazetted on 16 January 1900), and he was invested by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

on 1 March 1900. He was buried on the western side of Highgate Cemetery His grave has no headstone or marker.

Family

Edward Festing was the younger brother of John Wogan Festing (1837–1902), who became the

Bishop of St Albans The Bishop of St Albans is the Ordinary (officer), Ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of St Albans in the Province of Canterbury. The bishop is supported in his work by two suffragan bishops, the Bishop of Hertford and the Bishop o ...

. He had a son, Richard Arthur Grindall Festing, who worked for the

Civil Service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

.Arnold Wright,
Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon: Its history, people, commerce, industries and resources
'. Asian Education Services, 1907
Page 108
He died from

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...

Selected publications

* W. de W. Abney and E. R. Festing
Intensity of Radiation through Turbid Media
''

Proceedings of the Royal Society of London ''Proceedings of the Royal Society'' is the main research journal of the Royal Society. The journal began in 1831 and was split into two series in 1905: * Series A: for papers in physical sciences and mathematics. * Series B: for papers in life s ...

'', Volume 40, pages 378–380, 1886. Published by

The Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...

. * W. de W. Abney and E. R. Festing
Colour Photometry. Part III
''

'', Volume 50, pages 369–372, 1 January 1892. Published by The Royal Society.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Festing, Edward Robert 1839 births 1912 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Royal Engineers officers English chemists Spectroscopists Color scientists English curators Edward Robert Directors of the Science Museum, London Fellows of the Royal Society Companions of the Order of the Bath 19th-century British businesspeople