Sir Thomas Hill Easterfield (4 March 1866 – 1 March 1949) was a New Zealand chemist. Born in

Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

, England, he was the youngest of four children of Edward Easterfield, savings bank secretary, and Susan (née Hill). He attended Doncaster Grammar School, and later entered the Yorkshire College of Science, now the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

. He was then appointed a Senior Foundation Scholar of

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...

, from where he gained First Class honours in the

Natural Sciences Tripos The Natural Sciences Tripos is the framework within which most of the science at the University of Cambridge is taught. The tripos includes a wide range of Natural Sciences from physics, astronomy, and geoscience, to chemistry and biology, whi ...

in 1886. After graduation Easterfield worked in the Technische Hochschule Zürich, the

University of Zürich The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...

, and later in the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. Founded in 1402, it is one of the ol ...

under

Emil Fischer Hermann Emil Louis Fischer (; 9 October 1852 – 15 July 1919) was a German chemist and List of Nobel laureates in Chemistry, 1902 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He discovered the Fischer esterification. He also developed the Fisch ...

, from where he was awarded a PhD in 1894 for his work on citrazinic acid. In 1888, Easterfield returned to Cambridge as a junior demonstrator in the chemistry department. He was appointed a lecturer in the University Extension programme in 1891 and in 1894 lecturer on pharmaceutical chemistry and chemistry of sanitary science; he was also a master at

The Perse School The Perse School is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging Day school, day and, in the case of the Perse, a former boarding school) in Cambridge, England. Founded i ...

. In 1899, Easterfield was appointed one of the four foundation professors of the

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

, New Zealand; he and their two daughters set sail for the 90 day voyage on the ''Kaikoura'' from

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

on 11 February. In 1919 he became the first director of the

Cawthron Institute The Cawthron Institute is New Zealand's largest independent science organisation, specialising in science that supports the environment and development within primary industries. Cawthron has its main facilities in Nelson, New Zealand, Nelson. I ...

, Nelson; he retired from there in 1933. Easterfield isolated the chemical compounds Totarol,

Cannabinol Cannabinol (CBN) is a mildly psychoactive phytocannabinoid that acts as a low affinity partial agonist at both CB1 and CB2 receptors. This activity at CB1 and CB2 receptors constitutes interaction of CBN with the endocannabinoid system (ECS) ...

and

Tutin Tutin may refer to: Places *Tutin, Serbia, town in Serbia Surname * Arthur Tutin (1907–1961), English footballer *Dorothy Tutin (1930–2001), English actress *Mary Tutin, maiden name of Mary Gillick (1881–1965), English sculptor *Tom Tutin ...

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In 1935, he was awarded the

King George V Silver Jubilee Medal The King George V Silver Jubilee Medal is a commemorative medal, instituted to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the accession of King George V. Issue This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir by King George V to commemorate his Silver Ju ...

. He was appointed a

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the 1938 King's Birthday Honours.

Academic society memberships

*Foundation member of the New Zealand Institute (later the Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi); President in 1921–22 *Nelson Philosophical Society; several times President *The Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science; President of the Chemistry Section 1909 *Foundation member of the

New Zealand Institute of Chemistry The New Zealand Institute of Chemistry (NZIC) was founded in 1931 and is the professional membership organisation for professionals working in the field of chemistry across the education and industry sectors in New Zealand. It is organised into ...

*Life Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain and Ireland

Family

Thomas Easterfield met Anna Maria Kunigunda Büchel while he was working in Würzburg and they married there on 1 September 1894. They had five children, the first two born in England and the others in New Zealand: *Margaret Anna *Beatrice Mary * Muriel Helen * Theodora Clemens *Thomas Edward Sir Thomas Hill Easterfield died in

Nelson, New Zealand Nelson () is a List of cities in New Zealand, city and Districts of New Zealand, unitary authority on the eastern shores of Tasman Bay at the top of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the oldest city in the South Island and the second-old ...

on 1 March 1949. His ashes were scattered in a garden nook at the

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Easterfield, Thomas 1866 births 1949 deaths New Zealand chemists People from Doncaster Scientists from Nelson, New Zealand Presidents of the Royal Society of New Zealand Academic staff of Victoria University of Wellington New Zealand Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire British emigrants to New Zealand People associated with the Cawthron Institute 20th-century New Zealand scientists Alumni of the University of Leeds