Edmund Knowles Muspratt
Edmund Knowles Muspratt (1833–1923)
1833 Born in Linacre, near Bootle, son of James Muspratt, prominent in the chemical industry
Educated at the Pestalozzian Institute, Worksop
1850 His father sent him to study chemistry under his close friend Justus von Liebig at the University of Giessen in Hesse.
1852 When Liebig moved to the University of Munich Muspratt followed him to study medicine.
1856 Returned to Liverpool to join his father's rapidly expanding chemical company.
1860 When the governments of Britain and France formed a treaty to raise duties on materials made from salt, Edmund Knowles Muspratt went with Holbrook Gaskell to Paris to negotiate terms for the manufacturers.
1861 Married Frances Jane Baines; they had five sons and four daughters.
1872 Birth of son Max Muspratt at Seaforth Hall.
1881 Founder member of the Society of Chemical Industry
1885 President of the SCI
1890 Largely responsible for the merger of some fifty firms that led to the formation of the United Alkali Co, an attempt (ultimately unsuccessful) to make the Leblanc process competitive with Solvay's ammonia-soda process.
1906 Donated a chemical laboratory, the Muspratt Laboratory, to the University of Liverpool
1923 Died on 1 September at Seaforth Hall, Seaforth.
See Also
Sources of Information
- Biography Edmund Knowles Muspratt, ODNB