Harold Baily Dixon (1852–1930) was a British

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

. He was also an amateur

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who appeared for

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in the

1873 FA Cup Final The 1873 FA Cup Final was a football match between Wanderers and Oxford University on 29 March 1873 at Lillie Bridge in London. It was the second final of the world's oldest football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (known i ...

Early life

Born in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, he attended

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

from 1865 to 1871, and then studied at Christ Church,

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

under Vernon Harcourt, graduating as

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

with First Class Honours in Natural Science in 1875 and

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in 1878.

Academic and scientific career

Dixon was Millard Lecturer at

Trinity College, Oxford (That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody) , named_for = The Holy Trinity , established = , sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge , president = Dame Hilary Boulding , location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH , coordinates ...

, from 1879 to 1886, and from 1881 to 1886 Duke of Bedford Lecturer at

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

, where he became fellow in 1886. On the opening of the first women's colleges in 1879, Dixon was instrumental in allowing women to attend physics lectures. Margaret Seward was a prominent beneficiary of Dixon's proposition. Dixon served as Professor of Chemistry, succeeding Sir Henry Roscoe, at

Owen's College The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. Afte ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

from 1886 to 1922. He was chairman of governors of the Royal Technical College, Salford, Lancashire from 1916, Chairman of Salford Higher Education Committee from 1919, and of the Selective Committee for the North-West District of the

Ministry of Labour The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

from 1922. His expertise in the chemistry behind the cause of mine explosions was availed of by governments of the day. He served on the Royal Commissions on Explosion of Coal Dust in Mines from 1891 to 1894, and on the Coal Supply from 1902 to 1905, as well as the Home Office Committee on Explosions in Mines from 1911 to 1914 Dixon was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1886, and gave its

Bakerian Lecture The Bakerian Medal is one of the premier medals of the Royal Society that recognizes exceptional and outstanding science. It comes with a medal award and a prize lecture. The medalist is required to give a lecture on any topic related to physical ...

in 1893. He was a Fellow of the

Chemical Society The Chemical Society was a scientific society formed in 1841 (then named the Chemical Society of London) by 77 scientists as a result of increased interest in scientific matters. Chemist Robert Warington was the driving force behind its creation. ...

, serving as its president from 1909 to 1911. He was awarded the Royal Society's

Royal Medal The Royal Medal, also known as The Queen's Medal and The King's Medal (depending on the gender of the monarch at the time of the award), is a silver-gilt medal, of which three are awarded each year by the Royal Society, two for "the most important ...

in 1913: ''"On the ground of his eminence in physical chemistry, especially in connexion with explosions in gases."'' In 1907-08 and again in 1923-25 he was President of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society. During the

First World War 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 ...

, Dixon became in 1915 Deputy Inspector of High Explosives for the Manchester area, for which service he was made a

Commander of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in 1918.Citation not found in London Gazette for Harold Baily Dixon In 1922 he was appointed Honorary Professor of Chemistry at

Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

and supervised research on ignition of gases for the Safety in Mines Research Board in 1927. Dixon, who made his home in Fallowfield, Manchester, died in

Lytham Lytham St Annes () is a seaside town in the Borough of Fylde in Lancashire, England. It is on the The Fylde, Fylde coast, directly south of Blackpool on the Ribble Estuary. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 42,954 ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

on 18 September 1930, aged seventy-eight.

Football career

Usually in the position of forward, Dixon played football for Westminster School in his final year 1870–71. When he started at university he was a founder member of Oxford University's Amateur Football Club at its inception on 9 November 1871. He played with them in the second competition for the FA Cup when Oxford reached the Cup Final, played at

Lillie Bridge The Lillie Bridge Grounds was a sports ground on the Fulham side of West Brompton, London. It opened in 1866, coinciding with the opening of West Brompton station. It was named after the local landowner, Sir John Scott Lillie (1790–1868) and ...

ground, West Brompton, on 29 March 1873, only to lose to the Wanderers by 2 goals to nil. He did later play for the Wanderers, as well as at county level for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

. Unlike most of his footballing university contemporaries, he did not take part in the Varsity matches which would have earned him a 'Blue'.

Other sports

Dixon was a good cricketer who was in the Westminster School XI, which he captained in his final season. He was more noticeably active in mountaineering, undertaking exploring climbs in the Canadian

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

, and was a member of the British Alpine Club, the Canadian Alpine Club, and the Rucksack Club of Manchester.

Sports honours

Oxford University A.F.C. *1873 F.A. Cup Final (runner-up).

References

Sources

Entry for Dixon
in the Royal Society's Library and Archive catalogue's details of Fellows (accessed 27 April 2008)
DIXON, Harold Baily
Biographical Database of the British Chemical Community, 1880–1970, from the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

*''Physics in Oxford, 1839-1939: Laboratories, Learning, and College Life'', Robert Fox and Graeme Gooday, ed. *

External links

Harold Bailey Dixon
photograph from the Edgar Fahs Smith Collection at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

Library
The Chemical Society 1897 to 1944
includes a picture of Dixon, from the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Ro ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dixon, Harold Baily 1852 births 1930 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford British chemists Commanders of the Order of the British Empire FA Cup final players Fellows of the Chemical Society Fellows of the Royal Society People educated at Westminster School, London Royal Medal winners Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society Association footballers not categorized by position Association football players not categorized by nationality