Robert Warington, the founder of the Chemical Society, the predecessor of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), has been honoured with a blue plaque by the Otter Valley Association.
The plaque was unveiled on 16 March to honour the achievements of Warington (1807–1867) by past president of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Gill Reid and Warington’s great, great granddaughter, Sheila Salmon, at his home in Budleigh Salterton, UK.
Originally founded in 1866, the blue plaque scheme aims to celebrate the links between notable figures of the past and the buildings in which they lived and worked.
Described by Robert Bud in the March 1991 issue of Chemistry of Britain as ‘the moving spirit behind the society’, Warington started campaigning for a chemical society from the beginning of his career as an independent analyst in 1839. He had previously been an assistant at London’s new University College before joining the brewing firm, Trumans, in the 1830s.
Warington was interested in establishing an institution where he and his competitors could debate in private – rather than by way of pamphlets and letters as was common at the time. He also felt a society would give professional chemists like him the opportunity to network with the prominent academic chemists of the time, who were better connected internationally.
On 23 February 1841, a group of 25 men met at the Royal Society of Arts and agreed to found a chemical society. A committee of 14 members was formed to draft a constitution and the Chemical Society of London was formed on 30 March 1841 with 77 founding members, headed up by Thomas Graham, a professor at the Andersonian Institution in Glasgow. Warington went on to serve as the society’s secretary for 10 years.
Almost 140 years later, in 1980, the Chemical Society, the Society of Analytical Chemistry, the Royal Institute of Chemistry and the Faraday Society amalgamated and were granted a Royal Charter to become the Royal Society of Chemistry.
The plaque also honours Warington’s discovery of the ‘aquarium principle’, the idea that plants added to water in a container release enough oxygen to support animals – as long as there aren’t too many of them.
‘Our great, great grandfather was a remarkable man who achieved so much in his professional career,’ said Salmon, at the event. ‘Robert Warington Jr’s obituary of his father, written for the Royal Society, described him as “being of exceedingly cheerful character and genial disposition. He had great enthusiasm for all contributions to chemical fact. With this happy disposition was associated methodical business habits. It was to qualities of this kind, rather than to eminence as a chemist, that my father owed his fitness for the work which he carried out.” Robert Warington Jr would have been most proud of his father’s accolade, as are we all.’
Reid said Warington’s contribution was ‘crucial’ to bringing together 77 men interested in the advancement of chemistry to form the Chemical Society of London. ‘The [Royal] Society [of Chemistry], located at Burlington House, London, has over 55,000 members worldwide, its aims being to connect scientists with each other to make discoveries and innovation happen.’
‘The Royal Society of Chemistry is a catalyst for the chemistry that enriches the world and I pay tribute to Robert Warington who leaves an enormous legacy.’
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