Albert Charles Chibnall FRS (28 January 1894 – 10 January 1988) was a British biochemist known for his work on the nitrogen metabolism of plants.

Life and career

Albert Charles Chibnall was born on 28 January 1894 in Hammersmith, the second son of George William Chibnall, bakery owner, and Kate (née) Butler. The first and third sons (George William Russell, and Ronald Stanley) were both killed in action in WWI. The oldest child was Isabella Rachel (Belle); there were also two girls who died in infancy. After attending a small local school, Chibnall moved, aged seven, to

Latymer Upper School (Slowly Therefore Surely) , established = , closed = , sister_school = Godolphin and Latymer School , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , head_label = H ...

. This was thought unsuitable and so, after two years, he moved to

Colet Court St Paul's Juniors (formerly Colet Court) is an independent preparatory school for boys aged 7 to 13 in Barnes, London. It forms the preparatory department of St Paul's School, to which most Juniors pupils progress at the age of 13. The School w ...

, the preparatory school for St. Paul's, to which he moved in 1907. Chibnall gained an Exhibition to

Clare College Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

. He started off studying for Natural Sciences Tripos Part I, but this was cut short by the advent of war. He quickly applied for a commission, and spent three years serving mainly in the Army Service Corps. In 1917 he applied to join the Royal Flying Corps and learned to fly in Cairo; he gained his

wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expre ...

in 1918. In 1919 Chibnall was taken on by Professor H B Baker to do research for the newly instituted PhD at Imperial College, but he later switched to study the nitrogenous constituents of green leaves with Professor S. B. Schryver, whom he succeeded in 1929. He gained his PhD in 1921. After a year's work at the

Chelsea Physic Garden The Chelsea Physic Garden was established as the Apothecaries' Garden in London, England, in 1673 by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries to grow plants to be used as medicines. This four acre physic garden, the term here referring to the sc ...

, Chibnall was awarded a travelling scholarship to the USA. He secured a place with the leading expert on plant proteins, T B Osborne, at the

Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) is the Connecticut state government's agricultural experiment station, a state government component that engages in scientific research and public outreach in agriculture and related fields. I ...

. In 1924 he joined the laboratory of Jack Drummond at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

. In 1929 Cibnall took over the Chair of Bichemistry at Imperial College. He was appointed the second

Sir William Dunn Professor of Biochemistry The Sir William Dunn Professorship of Biochemistry is the senior professorship in biochemistry at the University of Cambridge. The position was established in 1914 by the trustees of the will of Sir William Dunn, banker, merchant and philanthropist ...

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

in 1943. He resigned in 1949 since he felt it was a role more suited to a medically qualified biochemist. His notable students included

Fred Sanger Frederick Sanger (; 13 August 1918 – 19 November 2013) was an English biochemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry twice. He won the 1958 Chemistry Prize for determining the amino acid sequence of insulin and numerous othe ...

who, after he was awarded in PhD in 1943 joined Chibnall's lab. Chibnall suggested Sanger work on methods of identifying the terminal amino acid of Insulin. Chibnall then declined to have his name on Sanger's paper on the grounds that Sanger should get all the credit. Sanger took a similar generous attitude to his students.

Family

Albert Chibnall married his cousin Helen Isabel Cicely Chibnall, known as Cicely, in 1931. They set up home at Long Meadow, in

Chiswick Mall Chiswick Mall is a waterfront street on the north bank of the river Thames in the oldest part of Chiswick in West London, with a row of large houses from the Georgian and Victorian eras overlooking the street on the north side, and their gar ...

. Their first child, Joan, was born in 1933. Cicely died at Queen Charlotte's Isolation Hospital, Hammersmith, on 19 May 1936, giving birth to their second daughter, also Cicely. In 1947 Chibnall married Marjorie McCallum Morgan, whom he had met after corresponding about one of his historical interests. They had a daughter and a son. Marjorie died in Sheffield on 23 June 2012, aged 96. Albert Charles Chibnall died in Cambridge on 10 January 1988; he was cremated on the 18th.

Historical Publications

*1950: ''Subsidy Roll for the County of Buckingham. Anno 1524''. Buckinghamshire Record Society *1963: ''Richard de Badew and the University of Cambridge, 1315-1340''. Cambridge University Press *1965: ''Sherington: Fiefs and Fields of a Buckinghamshire Village''. Cambridge University Press *1966: ''Early taxation returns : taxation of personal property in 1332 and later''. Buckinghamshire Record Society *1973: ''The certificate of musters for Buckinghamshire in 1522''. Buckinghamshire Record Society *1979: ''Beyond Sherington: the early history of the region of Buckinghamshire lying to the north-east of Newport Pagnell''. Phillimore

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20091028153644/http://www.bath.ac.uk/ncuacs/guidec.htm#ACChibnall {{DEFAULTSORT:Chibnall, Albert Charles 1894 births 1988 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society British biochemists Royal Flying Corps officers British Army personnel of World War I Sir William Dunn Professors of Biochemistry Academics of Imperial College London Royal Army Service Corps officers