William Henry Walenn (7 January 1828 – 20 September 1896) was born in London and was trained as an engineer at the works of Messrs. Cottam, and received part of his education at

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 ...

, where he studied mathematics under

Augustus De Morgan Augustus De Morgan (27 June 1806 – 18 March 1871) was a British mathematician and logician. He is best known for De Morgan's laws, relating logical conjunction, disjunction, and negation, and for coining the term "mathematical induction", the ...

. He became a Fellow of the

Chemical Society The Chemical Society was a scientific society formed in 1841 (then named the Chemical Society of London) by 77 scientists as a result of increased interest in scientific matters. Chemist Robert Warington was the driving force behind its creation. ...

in 1866, and of the

Institute of Chemistry An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

soon after its establishment. He was also a member of the

Physical Society of London The Physical Society of London, England, was a scientific society which was founded in 1874. In 1921, it was renamed the Physical Society, and in 1960 it merged with the Institute of Physics (IOP), the combined organisation eventually adopting the ...

Biography

Walenn was one of the earliest abridgers of specifications to the

Patent Office A patent office is a governmental or intergovernmental organization which controls the issue of patents. In other words, "patent offices are government bodies that may grant a patent or reject the patent application based on whether the applicati ...

, beginning under the then

Comptroller A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accountancy, accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior- ...

, Mr. Woodcroft, for whom he compiled the Series of Abridgments relating to "Electricity and Magnetism," "Photography," and other subjects. In 1866, his book, ''Little Experiments for Little Chemists'', was published, and in it was given a new process for depositing brass upon zinc. In 1871, he contributed a paper to the ''

Philosophical Magazine The ''Philosophical Magazine'' is one of the oldest scientific journals published in English. It was established by Alexander Tilloch in 1798;John Burnett"Tilloch, Alexander (1759–1825)" Dictionary of National Biography#Oxford Dictionary of ...

'', "On Solutions for Depositing Copper and Brass by means of Electric Force", and about the same time he conducted some experiments for the Government in electro-deposition of copper upon the bottom of an iron ship. Between 1868 and 1880, several mathematical papers of Walenn's, on "Unitates" and methods of checking calculations by means of these, were published in the ''Phil. Mag.'' He died at his residence, 9 Carleton Road, Tufnell Park, on 20 September 1896, after a long illness.''Journal of the Chemical Society'', Volume 71, Part 2. Chemical Society (Great Britain), Bureau of Chemical Abstracts (Great Britain). The Society (1897), p. 1206

Musical family

Walenn's wife, Skene Charlotte (née Barth, 1837-1927) was musically trained but did not perform professionally, though her sister was the operatic soprano

Alice Barth Alice Mary Barth (25 August 1848 – 18 July 1910) was an English operatic soprano who for some years was a member of the Carl Rosa Opera Company and who during the 1880s managed her own troupe, the Alice Barth Opera Company. Early life and ...

. Nevertheless, her interest led to many of her 15 children choosing music as a profession. Of them, Arthur, Herbert, Gerald and Dorothea formed the Walenn String Quartet in the 1890s. The annual Walenn Chamber Concerts series began in 1896. * Isabella Walenn (1857-1936) married the furniture designer

Arthur Silver Arthur Silver (1853–1896) was a designer and founder of the Silver Studio. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania in 1853. His grandfather had been in the cabinet-making business and his father, James Silver, was an upholsterer. Education In ...

in 1878, and spent many years with the

Royal Choral Society The Royal Choral Society (RCS) is an amateur choir, based in London. History Formed soon after the opening of the Royal Albert Hall in 1871, the choir gave its first performance as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society on 8 May 1872 – the choir' ...

. Their daughter was the actress and playwright

Christine Silver Christine Isie Silver (17 December 1883 – 23 November 1960) was a British stage, film and television actress, and a playwright. Early life Christine Isie Silver was born in 1883 (some sources give 1884) in Fulham, London, the daughter of Art ...

. * Ellie Walenn (1858-1929) was a musician and for 15 year head teacher at

Roedean School Roedean () is a private boarding school governed by royal charter on the outskirts of Brighton, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1885 by three sisters to educate wealthy daughters and heiresses of aristocracy and industrial elites of the 19t ...

. * James Walenn (1860-1884) was a composer, from 1879 organist at St Alban's Holborn, and conductor of the St Alban's Choral Society.James Duff Brown, Stephen Samual Stratton. 'Walenn, Family of Musicians', in ''British Musical Biography'' (1987), pp. 427-8 * Arthur Walenn (mid-1860s-1937) was initially a viola player but later became a baritone who made his professional debut at the

Queen's Hall The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect Thomas Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. Fro ...

in November 1895. * Charles Walenn (1867-1948) was a singer and actor best known for his performances in the comic baritone roles of the

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen com ...

operas.Kumm. Elisabeth
"Walenn, Charles R (1867–1948)"
TheatreHeritage.org, 28 July 2017, accessed 3 January 2018 *Frederick Dudley Walenn (1869-1933) was primarily an artist and principal of the

St John's Wood School of Art The St John's Wood Art School ( The Wood or Calderon's Art School) was an art school in St John's Wood, north London, England. The Art School was established in 1878 and was located on Elm Tree Road. It was founded by two art teachers, Elíseo A ...

. But he was also an accomplished amateur musician and the composer of several string quartets and part songs. * Herbert Walenn (1870-1953) was a cellist (Kruse Quartet and Walenn Quartet), founder of the London Violincello School in 1919, and a professor and examiner at the Royal Academy of Music for 50 years. His pupils included Sir John Barbirolli. * Gerald Walenn (1871–1942) was a violinist, leader of the Walenn Quartet and a composer. He emigrated to Australia in 1917, where he toured with

Nellie Melba Dame Nellie Melba (born Helen Porter Mitchell; 19 May 186123 February 1931) was an Australian operatic lyric coloratura soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early twentieth century, and was the f ...

and taught in Adelaide and Sydney. * Dorothea Walenn (1875-1948) taught violin at

St Paul's Girls' School St Paul's Girls' School is a private day school for girls, aged 11 to 18, located in Brook Green, Hammersmith, in west London, England. The school is included in The Schools Index as one of the world's 150 best private schools and among top ...

(where she worked with

Gustav Holst Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...

), performed in the Walenn Quartet, The Harmonic Trio (in the 1920s, with Edith Vance, cello and Olive Byrne, piano)''The Observer'', 13 November 1921, p. 16 and as a soloist, later devoting herself to teaching.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walenn, William Henry 1828 births 1896 deaths British chemists Alumni of University College London Fellows of the Chemical Society

Biography

Musical family

See also

References