Henry Brunner (22 January 1838 – 17 June 1916) was an English

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 ...

. Henry Brunner was born in

Everton, Liverpool Everton is a suburb of north Liverpool, in Merseyside, England, and part of the Liverpool Walton (UK Parliament constituency), Liverpool Walton constituency. It is bordered by Vauxhall, Liverpool, Vauxhall to the west, Kirkdale, Liverpool, Kir ...

, the elder son of John Brunner, a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

Unitarian and

schoolmaster A schoolmaster, or simply master, is a male school teacher. The usage first occurred in England in the Late Middle Ages and early modern period. At that time, most schools were one-room or two-room schools and had only one or two such teacher ...

, and Margaret Curphey, who originated from the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

. He was educated at his father's school, St. George's House, Everton and later at

Zürich Polytechnic ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ran ...

. In 1861 he was employed by John Hutchinson in his chemical business in

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

where he became chief chemist. Partly because he could speak good German, he became a friend of

Ludwig Mond Ludwig Mond FRS (7 March 1839 – 11 December 1909) was a German-born British chemist and industrialist. He discovered an important, previously unknown, class of compounds called metal carbonyls. Education and career Ludwig Mond was born in ...

when the latter came to work in the company in 1862. Henry arranged Mond's first temporary accommodation in Widnes at the Mersey Inn (formerly the Snig Pie Inn). It is likely that Henry persuaded Hutchinson to take up Mond's sulphur recovery process. After Hutchinson died in 1865 he worked as a chemist with the Hutchinson Trustees and later, with Hedley and Young, formed the firm of John Hutchinson and Company. Later he became a director of Brunner, Mond and Company. Henry was the elder brother of John Tomlinson Brunner who became general manager of Hutchinson's works and was later, with Mond, to establish the Brunner Mond Company. () Henry married Sarah Jane McClellan, daughter of John McClellan, Widnes

borax The BORAX Experiments were a series of safety experiments on boiling water nuclear reactors conducted by Argonne National Laboratory in the 1950s and 1960s at the National Reactor Testing Station in eastern Idaho.

manufacturer in 1868. They lived in Cliff House, Appleton, Widnes and later moved to Holly Mount,

Huyton Huyton ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. Part of the Liverpool Urban Area, Liverpool Built-up Area, it borders the Liverpool suburbs of Dovecot, Merseyside, Dovecot, Knotty Ash and Netherley, Liverpool, ...

, where Henry died in 1916.

References

Citations Sources * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brunner, Henry 1838 births 1916 deaths English chemists ETH Zurich alumni Scientists from Liverpool People from Widnes