James Sheridan Muspratt

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

FRSD (8 March 1821 – 3 February 1871) was an Irish-born

research Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

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 teacher. His most influential publication was his two-volume book ''Chemistry, Theoretical, Practical and Analytical as applied and relating to the Arts and Manufactures'' (1857–1860).

Life

James Sheridan Muspratt was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and moved to

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

with his parents when he was one year old. His father,

James Muspratt James Muspratt (12 August 1793 – 4 May 1886) was a British Chemical substance, chemical manufacturer who was the first to make alkali by the Leblanc process on a large scale in the United Kingdom. Early life James Muspratt was born in Dublin ...

, was one of the biggest industrial chemicals manufacturers in the UK between 1825 and 1850. James Sheridan Muspratt attended private schools in Bootle, Merseyside, and then went with tutors to travel on the

European continent Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the eas ...

. Beginning in 1836, he studied

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

under

Thomas Graham Thomas Graham may refer to: Politicians and diplomats *Thomas Graham, 1st Baron Lynedoch (1748–1843), British politician and soldier * Thomas Graham Jr. (diplomat) (born 1933), nuclear expert and senior U.S. diplomat *Sir Thomas Graham (barriste ...

at Anderson's University in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and then moved with Graham to

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. In 1841, his father sent him to

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

to manage the Muspratt business interests there but these were unsuccessful. Muspratt's father had met and become friends with

Justus von Liebig Justus ''Freiherr'' von Liebig (12 May 1803 – 18 April 1873) was a Germans, German scientist who made major contributions to the theory, practice, and pedagogy of chemistry, as well as to agricultural and biology, biological chemistry; he is ...

at a meeting of the

British Association for the Advancement of Science The British Science Association (BSA) is a Charitable organization, charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Scienc ...

and James Sheridan was sent to work with von Liebig at the

University of Giessen University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the German-speaking world. It is named afte ...

in Germany where he gained a PhD in 1845. James Sheridan Muspratt's own cited original research work includes a report on the sulphites (1845) and, with

August Wilhelm von Hofmann August Wilhelm von Hofmann (8 April 18185 May 1892) was a German chemist who made considerable contributions to organic chemistry. His research on aniline helped lay the basis of the aniline-dye industry, and his research on coal tar laid the g ...

, on the preparation of

toluidine There are three isomers of toluidine, which are organic compounds discovered and named by James Sheridan Muspratt and August Wilhelm von Hofmann in 1845. These isomers are O-Toluidine, ''o''-toluidine, ''m''-toluidine, and ''p''-toluidine, with the ...

and nitraniline (1845–1846). In 1848, Muspratt founded the Liverpool College of Chemistry in a disused stable at the back of his house in Canning Street, Liverpool. Upon his father's retirement in 1857, he became a partner along with his brothers in his father's chemicals manufacturing business. But it was also in the late 1850s that he wrote the textbook ''Chemistry, Theoretical, Practical and Analytical as applied and relating to the Arts and Manufactures''. The German translation of this book by Friedrich Stohmann was widely read in Germany, which was the leading nation in the field at the time. Muspratt also published translation into English of some German-language chemistry.

Family

Muspratt took an interest in theatre and helped to organise a visit to Liverpool of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

's amateur company in 1847. Among the cast were the American actress Susan Webb Cushman. Muspratt married Susan in 1848 and they had three daughters. Susan died in 1859 and Muspratt remarried, to Ann Neal of

Rainhill Rainhill is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Merseyside, England. The population at the 2011 census was 10,853. Historically part of Lancashire, Rainhill was a township in the ecclesiastical parish of Prescot ...

the following year. They had no children and Muspratt died at his home in

West Derby West Derby ( ) is an area of Liverpool, Merseyside, England, in the east of the city. At the 2011 Census, the population was 14,382. History West Derby Mentioned in the ''Domesday Book'', West Derby achieved significance far earlier tha ...

, Liverpool in 1871.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Muspratt, James Sheridan 1821 births 1871 deaths 19th-century Irish chemists Scientists from County Dublin Alumni of the University of Strathclyde Alumni of University College London Scientists from Liverpool James Sheridan Fellows_of_the_Royal_Society_of_Edinburgh