Person

Threlfall, Richard (1861 - 1932)

FRS GBE

Born
14 August 1861
Hollowforth, Lancashire, England
Died
10 July 1932
Birmingham, Warwickshire, England
Occupation
Physicist and Chemical engineer

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.

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Details

Chronology

1881 - 1882
Education - Studies (PhD?) at the University of Strasbourg, Austria
1884
Education - Bachelor of Art (BA), University of Cambridge, UK
1884 - 1886
Career position - Demonstrator in the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge
1886 - 1898
Career position - Professor of Physics, University of Sydney
1888
Career event - Original [founding] member, Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science
1888
Education - Master of Art (MA), University of Cambridge
1890
Career position - President, Section A (Astronomy, Mathematics, and Physics), Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science
1894 - 1895
Career position - President, 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 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, Society of Chemical Industry

Related Corporate Bodies

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

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, volume 12: 1891 - 1939 Smy-Z, John Ritchie, ed. (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., 'Some experiments on the production of ozone', Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, 40 (1886), 340-342. 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., '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 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, '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, '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

Resource Sections

See also

Gavan McCarthy [P004098] and Helen Cohn

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