Dixon, William Adam (1841 - 1917)

Summary

William Adam Dixon arrived in New South Wales in around 1868 after training as an analytical chemist in Scotland. In 1876 he was an instructor of Chemistry at the Sydney School of the Arts. Dixon was also an examiner in chemistry at the University of Sydney and an active member of the Royal Society of New South Wales. He also published widely on many varied fields, especially on precious metal extractions, in the Society's and in other journals.

Details

Chronology

1875

Patent - New South Wales patent 475: An improvement in the manufacture of alcohol [with Joseph Grafton Ross]

1877

Patent - New South Wales patent 570: Improvements in the extraction of gold, silver, and copper from pyrites or sulphides containing them.

1879 - 1882

Career position - Councillor, Royal Society of New South Wales

1883

Patent - New South Wales patent 1338: A new or improved compound for lubricating machinery

1883 - 1884

Career position - President, Royal Society of New South Wales

1884

Patent - New South Wales patent 1356: For making walls constructed of stone, brick, cement, and similar materials damp proof [with Robert Saddington]

1885

Patent - New South Wales patent: Improved process for the extraction of cobalt, nickel and manganese from their ores

1888 -

Career event - Original [founding] member, Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science

1888

Patent - New South Wales patent 552: Improvement in the manufacture of mineral lubricating oils

1888<

Career event - Fellow, Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain and Ireland (FIC)

1888<

Career event - Fellow, Chemical Society of London (FCS)

1888 - 1889

Career position - Councillor, Royal Society of New South Wales

1890 - 1891

Career position - President, Royal Society of New South Wales

1896

Patent - New South Wales patent 7115: Improvements in the decomposition of sulphate or sulphate of zinc

1897

Career event - Appointed an analyst, under the Public Health Act, New South Wales

c. 1901

Life event - Retired

Related entries

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• 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

Book Sections

• Ross, Joseph Grafton and Dixon, William Adam, 'Improvements in the Manufacture of Alcohol (Patent: 7 June, 1875)' in Index to New South Wales Letters of Registration of Inventions, 1854 to July 1887 (Sydney: Government Printer, 1891), p. 62. Details

Journal Articles

• Dixon, W.A., 'The Guano and other Phosphatic Deposits Occurring on Maldon Island', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 11 (1877), 176-181. Details
• Dixon, W.A., 'On a New Method of Extracting Gold, Silver, and Other Metals from Pyrites', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 11 (1877), 93-111. Details
• Dixon, W.A., 'Method of Extracting Gold, Silver, and Other Metals from Pyrites', The Chemical News and Journal of Physical Science, 38 (1878), 281-3,293-4,301-3. Details
• Dixon, W.A., 'Note on Huon Island Guano', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 12 (1878), 143-144. Details
• Dixon, W.A., 'On the Metallurgy of Nickel and Cobalt', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 12 (1878), 127-132. Details
• Dixon, W.A., 'The Deep Well Waters of Sydney', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 12 (1878), 133-141. Details
• Dixon, W.A., 'On the Metallurgy of Nickel and Cobalt', The Chemical News and Journal of Physical Science, 38 (1878), 268-270. Details
• Dixon, W.A., 'Note on the Boorook Silver Ore', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 12 (1878), 255-259. Details
• Dixon, W.A., 'Method of Extracting Gold, Silver, and Other Metals from Pyrites', The Chemical News and Journal of Physical Science, 39 (1879), 7-8. Details
• Dixon, W.A., 'On the Inorganic Constituents of the Coals of New South Wales', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 14 (1880), 163-179. Details
• Dixon, W.A., 'On Salt-Bush Plants and Native Fodder Plants of New South Wales', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 14 (1880), 133-143. Details
• Dixon, W.A., 'On Salt-bush and Native Fodder Plants of New South Wales', The Chemical News and Journal of Physical Science, 44 (1881), 78-79, 89-91. Details
• Dixon, W.A., 'On the Inorganic Constituents of Some Epiphytic Ferns', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 15 (1881), 175-183. Details
• Dixon, W.A., 'On the Ashes of Some Epiphytic Orchids', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 16 (1882), 175-177. Details
• Dixon, W.A., 'Abstract of Papers upon the Chemistry of Australian Products (Up to 1882)', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 17 (1883), 191-208. Details
• Dixon, W.A., 'On the constitution of acids', Philosophical Magazine (1886), 127-130. Details
• Dixon, W.A., 'On Checks in Analysis', The Chemical News and Journal of Physical Science, 55 (1887), 228-229. Details
• Dixon, W.A., 'Note on Diffusion', The Chemical News and Journal of Physical Science, 60 (1889), 164. Details
• Dixon, W.A., 'Note on the Composition of Two Sugar Plantation Soils', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 23 (1889), 32-35. Details
• Dixon, W.A., 'Some Considerations in Regard to the Formation of Coal and Carbonaceous Minerals', Report of the first meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 1 (1889), 125-137, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15813213. Details
• Dixon, W.A., 'Some Considerations in Regard to the Formation of Coal and Carbonaceous Minerals', The Chemical News and Journal of Physical Science, 60 (1889), 263-264, 275-278. Details
• Dixon, W.A., 'Well and River Waters of New South Wales', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 23 (1889), 465-476. Details
• Dixon, W.A., 'Note on Loss of Heat by Imperfect Combustion', The Chemical News and Journal of Physical Science, 70 (1894), 248. Details
• Dixon, W.A., 'Note on the So-Called "Selective Action" of Cyanide of Potassium for Gold', The Chemical News and Journal of Physical Science, 76 (1897), 281-2. Details
• Dixon, W.A., 'obituary of W.A. Dixon in presidential address by J.B. Cleland', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 52 (1918), 2-3. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q18911143. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/94812885. Details
• Early Chemists of Sydney, 2006, http://members.optusnet.com.au/jph8524/McKern.htm. Details
• 'Dixon, W A (1841-1917)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-632600. Details