Frederick Bickell Guthrie (10 December 1861 – 7 February 1927) was an Australian agricultural chemist and a president of the Royal Society of New South Wales.

Early life

Guthrie was born in

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

, the son of

Frederick Guthrie Frederick Guthrie FRS FRSE (15 October 1833 – 21 October 1886) was a British physicist and chemist and academic author. He was the son of Alexander Guthrie, a London tradesman, and the younger brother of mathematician Francis Guthrie. Al ...

, F.R.S. and Agnes Guthrie, née Bickell. Guthrie was educated 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 = � ...

, and at the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...

under Professor Zincke. He was assistant to the professor of chemistry at

Queen's College, Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

, from 1882, and in 1888 became demonstrator in chemistry at the

Royal College of Science The Royal College of Science was a higher education institution located in South Kensington; it was a constituent college of Imperial College London from 1907 until it was wholly absorbed by Imperial in 2002. Still to this day, graduates from th ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

under Sir Thomas Thorpe.

Career in Australia

Guthrie came to Australia in 1890 and in the same year was appointed demonstrator in chemistry at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...

under

Archibald Liversidge Archibald Liversidge FRS FRSE FRSNSW LLD (17 November 1847 – 26 September 1927) was an English-born chemist and a co-founder of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science. Early life Liversidge was born at Turnham Green, ...

. In 1892 he was made chemist to the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

department of agriculture. In this department he did much research in connexion with soil analysis, manures, and the milling qualities of wheat. He was also closely associated with

William Farrer William James Farrer (3 April 184516 April 1906) was a leading English Australian agronomist and plant breeder. Farrer is best remembered as the originator of the "Federation" strain of wheat, distributed in 1903. His work resulted in significa ...

and his work on wheat breeding; Guthrie devised methods to test small quantities of grain and assess their quality. For periods in 1896, 1904–1905, and 1908-1909 Guthrie was acting professor of chemistry at the University of Sydney. In 1901 he was president of the chemical section of the

Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science The Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS) is an organisation that was founded in 1888 as the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science to promote science. It was modelled on the British As ...

, and in 1913 president of the agricultural section. He was elected president of the Royal Society of New South Wales for 1903 and was one of the joint honorary secretaries from 1906 to 1910. Guthrie was also an original member of the Commonwealth advisory council of science and industry. He retired from the agricultural department of New South Wales in January 1924, and died of cancer at Sydney on 7 February 1927.

Legacy

Guthrie married Ada Adams, who survived him with a daughter. He lost his two sons in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He wrote many papers for scientific societies some of which were published as pamphlets. His work as an economic and agricultural chemist was of widespread benefit to primary production in Australia. The Guthrie medal, named in his honour, is awarded every three years by the

Royal Australian Chemical Institute The Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) is both the qualifying body in Australia for professional chemists and a learned society promoting the science and practice of chemistry in all its branches. The RACI hosts conferences, seminars and ...

References

* Additional sources listed by the ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'': :''Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales'', 6 (1895), p 159, 9 (1898), p 363; Department of Agriculture (New South Wales), ''Science Bulletin'', 1912, no 7, 1914, no 11; Royal Australian Chemical Institute, ''Proceedings'', 40 (1973), p 368; ''Records of the Australian Academy of Science'', 4 (Nov 1978 – Apr 79), no 1, p 7, and for bibliography; ''Sydney Morning Herald'', 20 Apr 1923, 8 Feb 1927; ''The Bulletin'', 10 Feb 1927

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Guthrie, Frederick Bickell 1861 births 1927 deaths Australian chemists Academics of Queens College Cork British Mauritius people