James Thomson (6 February 1779 – 27 April 1850) was an English industrial chemist who made a career and large reputation in

calico Calico (; in British usage since 1505) is a heavy plain-woven textile made from unbleached, and often not fully processed, cotton. It may also contain unseparated husk parts. The fabric is far coarser than muslin, but less coarse and thick than ...

printing. He became a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1821.

Life

He was born in

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

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 ...

. While studying at

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

he came to know

Thomas Campbell Thomas Campbell may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Thomas Campbell (poet) (1777–1844), Scottish poet * Thomas Campbell (sculptor) (1790–1858), Scottish sculptor * Thomas Campbell (visual artist) (born 1969), California-based visual artist ...

, who became a friend. The Thomson family was connected with the Peels, the manufacturing and political dynasty in Lancashire. James Thomson went to work for Joseph Peel & Co., calico printers in London, around 1795, and remained there for six years; Joseph Peel was an uncle of

Sir Robert Peel, 1st Baronet Sir Robert Peel, 1st Baronet (25 April 1750 – 3 May 1830) was a British politician and industrialist and one of early textile manufacturers of the Industrial Revolution. He is one of ten known British millionaires in 1799. He was the father ...

. While in London Thomson met

William Hyde Wollaston William Hyde Wollaston (; 6 August 1766 – 22 December 1828) was an English chemist and physicist who is famous for discovering the chemical elements palladium and rhodium. He also developed a way to process platinum ore into malleable ingo ...

and

Humphry Davy Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet, (17 December 177829 May 1829) was a British chemist and inventor who invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He is also remembered for isolating, by using electricity, several elements for t ...

. Davy became a close friend, and they worked together on the theory of acids, with Thomson willing to inhale Davy's

nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or nos, is a chemical compound, an oxide of nitrogen with the formula . At room temperature, it is a colourless non-flammable gas, and has a ...

in 1799. In 1801 Thomson was brought in as a middleman in negotiations for

Count Rumford Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, FRS (german: Reichsgraf von Rumford; March 26, 1753August 21, 1814) was an American-born British physicist and inventor whose challenges to established physical theory were part of the 19th-century revolut ...

to hire Davy, by Thomas Richard Underwood of the

Royal Institution The Royal Institution of Great Britain (often the Royal Institution, Ri or RI) is an organisation for scientific education and research, based in the City of Westminster. It was founded in 1799 by the leading British scientists of the age, inc ...

. The Primrose Works, set up near

Clitheroe Clitheroe () is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for tourists visiting the area. In 2018, the Cl ...

in Lancashire in 1801, became Thomson's, in partnership with others. The works aimed at the manufacture of prints of a high standard, and existed to 1854. Thomson innovated in technology: he took out an English patent for the

Turkey red Turkey red is a color that was widely used to dye cotton in the 18th and 19th century. It was made using the root of the rubia plant, through a long and laborious process. It originated in India or Turkey, and was brought to Europe in the 1740s. ...

process of

Daniel Koechlin The Koechlin family is an Alsatian family which acquired its wealth in the textile industry and became leading industrialists and politicians of the region. Early family history The first traces of the family can be found in 1440, when Johann Koe ...

in 1813, and invented his own

indigo blue Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', m ...

process with

potassium bicarbonate Potassium bicarbonate (IUPAC name: potassium hydrogencarbonate, also known as potassium acid carbonate) is the inorganic compound with the chemical formula KHCO3. It is a white solid. Production and reactivity It is manufactured by treating an ...

. Some of the employees were later distinguished:

Walter Crum Walter Crum FRS (1796–1867) was a Scottish chemist and businessman. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1844. Life He was born in Glasgow, the second son of Alexander Crum of Thornliebank, a merchant there, and of Jane, the eldest da ...

FRS spent two years working for Thomson, and he also employed

Richard Cobden Richard Cobden (3 June 1804 – 2 April 1865) was an English Radical and Liberal politician, manufacturer, and a campaigner for free trade and peace. He was associated with the Anti-Corn Law League and the Cobden–Chevalier Treaty. As a young ...

about 1826 and

Lyon Playfair Lyon Playfair, 1st Baron Playfair (1 May 1818 – 29 May 1898) was a British scientist and Liberal politician who was Postmaster-General from 1873 to 1874. Early life Playfair was born at Chunar, Bengal, the son of George Playfair (1782-1846) ...

about 1841. Thomson gave evidence to a select committee of Parliament, on trade, manufactures and shipping, in 1833. For ''

Rees's Cyclopædia Rees's ''Cyclopædia'', in full ''The Cyclopædia; or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature'' was an important 19th-century British encyclopaedia edited by Rev. Abraham Rees (1743–1825), a Presbyterian minister and scholar w ...

'' he contributed articles on textiles manufacture: *Colour-making in Calico-Printing, (vol 9, 1808/9) *Copper in Calico-printing, (vol 9, 1808/9) *Copper Plate Work in Calico-Printing, (vol 9, 1808/9) *Cotton, (Vol 10, 1809). In this he defended the reputation of

Richard Arkwright Sir Richard Arkwright (23 December 1732 – 3 August 1792) was an English inventor and a leading entrepreneur during the early Industrial Revolution. He is credited as the driving force behind the development of the spinning frame, known as t ...

. *Dipping in Calico-Printing, (vol 11, 1809) *Discharging of Colour, (vol 11, 1809) *Manufacture of Cotton, (vol 22, 1812).

John Farey, jr John Farey Jr. (20 March 1791 – 17 July 1851) was an English mechanical engineering, consulting engineer and patent agent, known for his pioneering contributions in the field of mechanical engineering.Alec Skempton.Farey, Jr., John" in: ''A Bi ...

contributed an account of Strutt's Works at Belper and made the drawings with which the article is illustrated. *Spinning,(vol 33, 1816) *Printing, Calico, (vol 39, 1819)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, James English chemists English businesspeople Fellows of the Royal Society 1779 births 1850 deaths