19th Century Archival Collections of The Royal Institution The Royal Institution (Ri) is an independent charity, and has been at the forefront of scientific innovation, discovery and communication for the last 220 years. Founded in 1799 by, amongst others, Sir Joseph Banks and the Massachusetts born Benjamin Thompson (Count Rumford), it has always occupied the same magnificent Grade 1 listed building in the heart of Mayfair, London. The Core Collections of the Ri are made up of original scientific apparatus, archives, images, art and sculpture, books, periodicals, material in various electronic formats and furniture associated with those who have worked in the building. As well as this further historic material regarding the founding of the Ri, the programme of lectures, and the research which has taken place in the building, is preserved within the archival and reserve collections. These collections are supplemented by an exceptionally rich collection of images and artwork coveting the history of the Ri from its foundation. The 19th Century archival holding within the Ri are specifically made up of administration papers of the Institution and its programmes, including the lecture series, and the personal papers of significant figures in science experimentation and communication from that time: • John Barlow • Henry Bence Jones • William Henry Bragg - Superintendent of House, 1923-42; Director of the DFRL, 1923-42 • William T. Brande • Sir William Crookes • Sir Humphry Davy - Director of Laboratory, 1801-25 • John Davy • Sir James Dewar - Superintendent of House,1887-1923; Director of Laboratory, 1887-1923; DFRL Director,1896-1923 • Michael Faraday - Lab Assistant,1813-26; Director of Laboratory,1825-67; Superintendent of House, 1852-67 • Edward Frankland • William Robert Grove • Thomas Harrison • Thomas Archer Hirst • E. Landseer • William Hazledine Pepys • Lyon Playfair • William Spottiswoode • John William Strutt, Lord Rayleigh • Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford • John Tyndall - Superintendent of House, 1867-87; Director of Laboratory, 1867-87 • Louisa Tyndall • Thomas Webster The collections of Brande, Frankland, Harrison, Hirst, Landseer, Playfair, Spottiswoode and Rayleigh are significantly smaller and made up of small amounts of notebooks, accounts and correspondence. Major Collections 1. Barlow, John (1799-1869) Administrative/Biographical history: John Barlow was born the son of a parson in 1799. He attended Trinity College, Cambridge and took holy orders soon after. In 1822 he became curate of the Parish of Uckfield, Sussex; from 1830 to 1842 he was rector of Little Bowden, Northamptonshire. In 1824 he married Cecilia Anne Lam (c 1796-1868). He became a member of the Royal Institution of Great Britain (Ri) in 1832 and a manager in 1838. In 1834 he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society. From 1837 to 1838 he was Secretary of the Zoological Society. In 1841 he succeeded Michael Faraday (1791-1867) as Secretary of the Lectures Committee at the Ri. In 1843 he was elected Honorary Secretary of the RI, a position he held until 1860. In this role he made many far-reaching administrative changes in the running of the Ri. He gave lectures at the Ri on the practical application of science. He published some of his research in The Discovery of the Vital Principle or Physiology of Man in 1838; he also published ‘On Man's Power Over Himself to Prevent or Control Insanity’, which highlighted the importance of moral management of the insane rather than the use of intimidation. In 1851 he became Minister of the Duke Street Chapel, London and from 1854 to 1859, he was Chaplain-in-Ordinary at Kensington Palace. He died in 1869. Archive Content Papers of John Barlow include scrapbooks containing letters, newspaper cuttings, biographical notes, autographs, reports and photographs, c1750-1875 (JB1-JB2). 2. Bence Jones, Henry (1813-1873) Administrative/Biographical history: Henry Bence Jones was born the son of Lieutenant-Colonel William Jones and Matilda Bence in 1814. He attended Harrow School and then Trinity College Cambridge gaining a BA in 1836 and a MD in 1849. He undertook medical studies at St George's Hospital and became a physician there from 1846 to 1872. He studied chemistry under Thomas Graham at the University College, London, and in 1841 he went to Giessen, Germany to study under Justus Liebig. In 1842 he became licentiate to the Royal College of Physicians and was a Fellow in 1849. He married Lady Millicent Acheson. In 1846 he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society. He studied the aspects of chemistry in pathology and medicine and gave a course of lectures in `Animal Chemistry in its application to Stomach and Renal Diseases'. He became Secretary of the Royal Institution of Great Britain (Ri) in 1860, a position he held until 1873. In 1868 he gave the `Croonian lectures on matter and force'. He was a friend and biographer of Michael Faraday (1791-1867). He published a book on ‘Animal Electricity’ in 1852. He died in 1873. Archive Content Papers of Henry Bence Jones, 1803-1873, including correspondence to and from various recipients, relating to the Royal Institution of Great Britain, its lectures (CG4/1&2). 3. Bragg, Sir William Henry (1862-1942) Administrative/Biographical history: William Henry Bragg was born in Westward, Cumberland, the son of Robert John Bragg, a farmer, and Mary Wood in 1862. He was educated at Market Harborough and attended King William's College on the Isle of Man. In 1881 he went to Trinity College, Cambridge to study Mathematics. In 1884 he was third wrangler in part one of the Tripos and gained a first in part 3 of the Mathematical Tripos in 1885. In 1886 he became Elder Professor of Mathematics and Physics of the University of Adelaide, Australia. In 1889 he married Gwendoline Todd and they had three children, William Lawrence, Robert Charles and Gwendoline Mary. He did not undertake much research until after addressing some scientific people in the country about current and past research in 1904. With the assistance of R. D. Kleeman, he decided to research into the radiations of electrons, x-rays, radioactivity and the extent to which they were absorbed and scattered by gases and solids. He discovered that alpha-particles of radium were ceased in ionisation. In 1903 he became President of Section A of the Australian Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1907 he became a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1909 he returned to England as Cavendish Professor of the University of Leeds which he held until 1915. In 1912 Max Von Laue showed that x-rays are diffracted by the atoms of a crystal. Using ionisation on such work and working with his son, William Lawrence Bragg (known as Lawrence in order to distinguish him from his father), they developed the science of x-ray crystallography. In 1913 he used ionisation to reflect x-rays and together with his son Lawrence, published "X-Rays and Crystal Structure" in 1915. He won the Nobel Prize for physics with Lawrence in 1915. He also gained several medals for his work on x-rays and crystallography, such as the Rumford medal in 1916 and the Copley medal in 1930 from the Royal Society, and the Faraday medal in 1936 from the Institution of Electrical Engineers. From 1915 to 1923, he was the Quain Professor of Physics at the University of London. During the First World War, he worked on underwater acoustics for the Admiralty in order to detect submarines. He was knighted in 1920. He became Fullerian Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Davy-Faraday Research Laboratory at the Royal Institution of Great Britain (Ri) in 1923. He was known as a good lecturer and had many of his lectures published for example: ‘The World of Sound’ in 1920 and ‘Concerning the Nature of Things’ in 1925, which were taken from his Christmas Lectures given at the Ri. He published papers such as `On the Absorption of X-rays and the Classification of the X-rays in Radium' in Philosophical Magazine in 1904, and others in Nature, Proceedings of the Royal Society and Transactions Royal Society South Australia; and books such as ‘Crystallography and X-Rays and Crystal Structure’. In 1932 he became President of the Physical Society. In 1935 he became President of the Royal Society. He died at the RI, London, in 1942. Archive Content Papers of Sir William Henry Bragg include: pocket diaries 1924-1942 relating to day to day engagements. Miscellaneous correspondence and notes c1898-1962; his work on and observations of crystals and x-rays; his papers and books; honours and meetings. Bragg-Rutherford correspondence 1904-1935. Father/Son correspondence and autobiography, relating to letters between William Henry Bragg and Lawrence Bragg discussing lectures; laboratory work; working together on research. A B Wood correspondence 1917-1962. Research notebooks c1900-1930 relate to his lectures, abstracts of literature and notes by Lawrence Bragg. General files on scientific work relate to notes on sound and light; colours from plants; anthracene (under Lawrence Bragg); clay; crystals; paramagnetism and diamagnetism. General files on crystallography relate to various aspects of his work on the subject such as, anthracene and naphthalene; proteins; liquid crystals; diamonds; calcium carbide as well as proofs on the Story of Electromagnetism; draft autobiography and biography; notes for a lecture on the solid state of matter and some correspondence on his research for the Admiralty in the First World War. General files on research relate to studies in radioactivity; notes on topics such as focal conics, fluid crystals, nematic liquids and optics; correspondence on topics such as crystallised substances, x-rays, density values and publications. Miscellaneous scientific notes and correspondence relate to discussions and drafts for the; discussions on other scientists' views for example Debye's 'relaxation time' argument.