James Finlay Weir Johnston
James Finlay Weir Johnston, FRS (13 September 1796 – 18 September 1855) was a Scottish agricultural chemist.[1]
Born in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Johnston was educated at University of Glasgow, acquired a fortune by his marriage in 1830, and devoted himself to studying chemistry. He visited the chemist J. J. Berzelius in Sweden and was a co-founder of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.[2] He was appointed reader in Chemistry and Mineralogy at Durham University on its foundation in 1833, but continued to reside in Edinburgh out of term.[3] He wrote the Catechism of Agricultural Chemistry (1844), since translated into most European languages, and the Chemistry of Common Life (1853–1855). From 1847, his assistant was Augustus Voelcker who also lectured in agricultural chemistry at Durham University.[4] Johnston died in Durham on 18 September 1855.[1]
Johnston formed a grammar school in Durham in 1825,[3] which later merged with other local schools, such as Brandon and Bowburn, to form a single comprehensive school for the area, named Durham Johnston Comprehensive School, preserving James Finlay Weir Johnston's name.[1]
References
- ^ a b c Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
- ^ David Knight, ‘Johnston, James Finlay Weir (1796–1855)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
- ^ a b . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
- ^ John Christopher Augustus Voelcker, (1899) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
External links
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Wood, James, ed. (1907). The Nuttall Encyclopædia. London and New York: Frederick Warne.
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