Threlfall, Richard (1861 - 1932)

Summary

Richard Threlfall founded the School of Physics at the University of Sydney, having been appointed Professor of Physics in 1886. The building and equipping of a laboratory was completed in 1888. He continued his research in parallel with teaching, focussing on explosives and explosions, the electrical properties of dielectric materials, and the invention quartz thread torsion balance which enabled highly accuracy measurement of gravity in different locations. Threlfall was active in scientific organisations, holding officer as President of the Royal Society of New South Wales and of Section A of Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science. Having resigned his position in 1899 Threlfall returned to the United Kingdom, becoming scientific advisor to Albright & Wilson Co., Birmingham, England until 1932. During WWI his research related to smokescreens, munitions and chemical warfare.

Details

Chronology

1881 - 1882

Education - Studies (PhD?) at the University of Strasbourg, Austria

1884

Education - Bachelor of Art (BA) completed at the University of Cambridge, UK

1884 - 1886

Career position - Demonstrator in the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge

1886 - 1898

Career position - Professor of Physics at the University of Sydney

1888

Education - Master of Art (MA) completed at the University of Cambridge

1890

Career position - President, Section A (Astronomy, Mathematics, and Physcis), Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science

1894 - 1895

Career position - President of the Royal Society of New South Wales

1895 - 1899

Career position - Vice-President (jointly), Royal Society of New South Wales

1898 - 1932

Career position - Scientific Adviser at Albright & Wilson Co.in Birmingham, UK

1899 - 1932

Award - Fellow, The Royal Society, London (FRS)

1914 - 1918

Career position - Board Member of Invention and Research, UK

1917

Award - Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE), Britain

1927

Award - Knight Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (GBE), Britain

1929

Award - Gold medal received from the Society of Chemical Industry

Related entries

Archival resources

University of Sydney, Archives

• Richard Threlfall - Records, 1885 - 1962, P 28; University of Sydney, Archives. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• Exhibition Papers, A Bright Sparcs Exhibition, Australian Science Archives Project, 1997, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/papers/exhib_papers.htm. Details
• Collins, David, Chemistry in 19th Australia - Select Bibliography, An exhibition of the Encyclopedia circa 2005 with assistance from Ailie Smith and Gavan McCarthy., eScholarship Research Centre (original publisher), Melbourne, 2009, https://eoas.info/exhibitions/ciab/ciab_ALL.html. Details

Books

• Threlfall, Richard, On Laboratory Arts (London: Macmillan, 1898), (xii) + 338 + 2 pp. ads. pp. Details

Book Sections

• Home, R. W., 'Threlfall, Sir Richard (1861-1932), Physicist and Chemical Engineer' in Australian Dictionary of Biography, John Ritchie, ed., vol. 12 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1990), pp. 220-221. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A120243b.htm. Details
• Home, R. W., 'Sir Richard Threlfall, 1861-1932' in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004). Details

Journal Articles

• Browne, W. R., 'Presidential address', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 67 (1934), 1-95. Details
• Home, R. W., 'First Physicist of Australia: Richard Threfall at the University of Sydney, 1886-1898', Historical Records of Australian Science, 6 (3) (1986), 333-358. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9860630333. Details
• T., J. J.; and H., W. B., 'Sir Richard Threlfall 1861 - 1932', Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society, 1 (1932), 45-53. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.1932.0010. Details
• Threlfall, R., 'Notes on the Theory of Dissociation of Gases', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 20 (1886), 213-217. Details
• Threlfall, R., 'On an effect produced by the passage of an electric discharge through pure nitrogen', Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, 40 (1886), 329-340. Details
• Threlfall, R., 'Some experiments on the production of ozone', Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, 40 (1886), 340-342. Details
• Threlfall, R., 'On the Purification of Certain Substances', Report of the second meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 2 (1890), 395, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14563373. Details
• Threlfall, R., 'Note on Some Products from the Fruit of Pittosporum undulatum and from the Leaves of the Pepper Tree (Schinus molle)', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 29 (1895), 456-461. Details
• Threlfall, R. E., 'Sir Richard Threlfall G.B.E., F.R.S. (1861-1932): some personal memories', Notes and records of the Royal Society of London, 16 (2) (1961), 234-42. Details
• Threlfall, R.; and Allen, J. Bernard, 'Experiments on Some Electrical Properties of Purified Sulphur', Report of the seventh meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 7 (1898), 245-258, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15378203. Details
• Threlfall, Richard, 'On the Specific heats of the Vapours of Acetic acid and Nitrogen Tetroxide', The Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, 23 (1887), 223-224. Details
• Threlfall, Richard, 'On the measurement of high resistances, and on galvanometers suitable for the purpose. [Abstract]', Report of the first meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 1 (1889), 109-110, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15813197. Details
• Threlfall, Richard, 'On the new Physical Laboratory at the University of Sydney', Report of the first meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 1 (1889), 95-105, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15813183. Details
• Threlfall, Richard, 'The Electrical Properties of Pure Substances. Part I. The Preparation of Pure Nitrogen and Attempts to Condense It', The Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, 35 (1893), 1-35. Details
• Threlfall, Richard, 'A Contribution to the Study of Oxygen at Low Pressures', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 31 (1897), 79-82. Details
• Threlfall, Richard and Brearley, Joseph Henry Drapier, 'Researches on the electric properties of pure substances. No.1. The electrical properties of pure sulphur', Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series A, 187 (1896), 57-150. Details
• Threlfall, Richard and Pollock, Arthur (sic, James Arthur), 'On Measurements of the Resistance of Imperfectly Purified Sulphur', The Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, 28 (1889), 469-473. Details
• Threlfall, Richard; Brearley, Joseph Henry Drapier and Allen, J.B., 'Researches on the electrical properties of pure substances. No 1. The electrical properties of pure sulphur', Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, 56 (1894), 32-40. Details
• Threlfall, Richard; Pollock, Arthur, 'On the Clark Cell as a source of small standard currents, and on a galvanometer for the Prince Alfred Hospital. [Abstract]', Report of the first meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 1 (1889), 110-112, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15813198. Details

Resources

• Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, Royal Society of London, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.1932.0010. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/118100507. Details
• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q7329476. Details
• 'Threlfall, Richard (1861-1932)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1016602. Details

Resource Sections

• 'Threlfall, Richard', in Physics in Australia to 1945, R.W. Home, with the assistance of Paula J. Needham, Australian Science Archives Project, June 1995, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/physics/P000831p.htm. Details

See also

• Bolton, H. C., 'Optical Instruments in Australia in the 1939-45 War: successes and lost opportunities', Australian Physicist (1990). http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/papers/bolton2.htm. Details
• Engineers Australia ed., Wonders never cease: 100 Australian engineering achievements (Barton, Australian Capital Territory: Institution of Engineers, Australia, 2019), 236 pp. p.24. Details
• Serle, Percival, Dictionary of Australian biography (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1949). Details