John William Hinchley

Wh.Sch. ARSM FIC
Born(1871-01-21)21 January 1871
Grantham, England
Died13 August 1931(1931-08-13) (aged 60)
London, England
OccupationEngineer
SpouseEdith Mary Mason 1903
Parent(s)Johan Hinchley, Eliza Holland[1]
Engineering career
DisciplineChemical
Institutions
AwardsWhitworth Scholarship

John William Hinchley (1871-1931) was a chemical engineer who was the first Secretary of the Institution of Chemical Engineers.

Early life and education

Hinchley was born 21 January 1871 in Grantham,[2][1] and studied at Lincoln Grammar School.[2][3] From 1887 to 1890 he served an engineering apprenticeship at Ruston, Proctor and Company[3] while attending science classes in the evening, being a prizewinner in chemistry, followed by a year as a science teacher.[4] A national scholarship and the support of a friend enabled him to go to Imperial College, London[2] where he graduated in 1895 with first class honours.[3][5] He successfully sat the exam for a Whitworth Scholarship.[2]

Career

After Imperial College, he went to Dublin to assist Professor John Joly with the development of colour photography.[3][5] Returning to London he became assistant to a designer of acid plants and acetone production which stopped when his employer was killed in a road accident, so he became a chemical engineering consultant.[6] In 1903 he went to Siam to be the technical head of the new Royal Mint of Bangkok,[2][3][7] successfully developing a process melting 2.5 tons of silver a day and coinage to British Royal Mint standards.[8] Back in London he was again a consultant, designing and erecting a variety of chemical plants.[9]

In 1909 he was invited to give a series of 25 lectures on chemical engineering at Battersea Technical College,[10] the first regular curriculum in the subject in the UK.[11][12] These were popular, and in 1911 he was appointed lecturer in chemical engineering for two days a week at Imperial College,[13][10] in 1917 becoming assistant professor, all the while continuing with his professional work, but passing on the course at Battersea.[14][15] The same year he was promoted to the class of Fellows of the Institute of Chemistry.[16] In 1926 he was made full Professor.[2][17] The same year the article on Chemical Engineering in Encyclopedia Britannica was his work.[18]

Institution of Chemical Engineers

George E. Davis proposed the formation of a Society of Chemical Engineers, but instead the Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) was formed.[19][20] In 1918 Hinchley, who was a Council Member of the SCI, petitioned it to form a Chemical Engineers Group, which was done, with him as chairman and 510 members[21] In 1920 this group voted to form a separate Institution of Chemical Engineers, which was achieved in 1922 with Hinchley as the Secretary, a role he held until his death.[22] According to the editor of Chemical Age just after his death, "The establishment, a few years later, of the Institution of Chemical Engineers was due to him perhaps more than any single person."[23] The journal Nature described him as instrumental in its formation.[3]

Personal life

It was while at Imperial College that he was introduced to a student at the Royal College of Art, Edith Mary Mason.[24] She was later a member of the Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers.[25] They were married on 4 August 1903.[7] She designed the Seal for the Institution of Chemical Engineers, which was executed by medallist Cecil Thomas, a fellow member of the same Royal Society.[26][27]

While in Siam, he became a freemason and was involved in setting up the Imperial College Masonic lodge.[3]

Plaque dedicated to John Hinchley at Golders Green Crematorium

He died 13 August 1931 after a long illness.[2][28][29] He was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium and the ashes scattered in the Garden of Rest,[30] where there is now a memorial.[31]

Legacy

The Institution of Chemical Engineers instituted an annual Hinchley Memorial Lecture in 1932 [32] and a Hinchley Medal in 1943 for the most meritorious student of chemical engineering at Imperial College. The Medal continues, but is now directly awarded by the college.[33][34]

References

  1. 1 2 Hinchley 1935, p. 9
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Obituary, Professor J. W. Hinchley". Times. London. 14 August 1931. p. 13.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 B., J. S. S. (5 September 1931). "Prof J. W. Hinchley". Nature. 128 (3227): 402.
  4. ↑ Hinchley 1935, p. 11
  5. 1 2 Hinchley 1935, pp. 24–5
  6. ↑ Hinchley 1935, pp. 27–8
  7. 1 2 Hinchley 1935, p. 29
  8. ↑ Hinchley 1935, p. 35
  9. ↑ Hinchley 1935, p. 40
  10. 1 2 Hinchley 1935, p. 42
  11. ↑ Donnelly, J. F. (1988). "Chemical Engineering in England 1880-1922". Annals of Science. 45: 555–590.
  12. ↑ Divall & Johnstone 2000, p. 29
  13. ↑ "The Governors of The Imperial College". Daily Telegraph. London. 26 December 1910. p. 6.
  14. ↑ Morton, Frank (1982). "Chemical Engineering in England". In William F Furter (ed.). A Century of Chemical Engineering. New York: American Chemical Society. p. 23. ISBN 0-306-40895-3.
  15. ↑ Hinchley 1935, p. 55
  16. ↑ Pilcher, Richard (November 1917). "The Register: New Fellows". Proceedings of the Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain and Ireland. London: Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain and Ireland: 28.
  17. ↑ Hinchley 1935, p. 115
  18. ↑ Hinchley 1935, p. 71
  19. ↑ Flavell-While, Claudia (1 March 2012). "George E Davis - Meet the Daddy". The Chemical Engineer. Rugby: IChemE. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  20. ↑ Divall & Johnstone 2000, pp. 17–19
  21. ↑ Divall & Johnstone 2000, pp. 56–59
  22. ↑ Hinchley 1935, pp. 67–9
  23. ↑ Hamer, W. E. (22 August 1931). "The Late Professor Hinchley: Some Appreciation". Chemical Age. XXV (634): 163.
  24. ↑ Hinchley 1935, p. 13
  25. ↑ "Art Exhibitions". Times. London. 28 May 1926. p. 12.
  26. ↑ Hinchley 1935, p. 69
  27. ↑ Divall & Johnstone 2000, p. 66
  28. ↑ "In Memoriam Prof. J. W. Hinchley". Daily Telegraph. London. 14 September 1931. p. 13.
  29. ↑ Hinchley 1935, p. 136
  30. ↑ Hinchley 1935, p. 137
  31. ↑ Hinchley 1935, p. 141
  32. ↑ Tizard, H. T. (1932). "First Hinchley Memorial Lecture". Transactions of the Institution of Chemical Engineers. 10: 87–94.
  33. ↑ "Hinchley Medal". www.icheme.org. IChemE. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  34. ↑ "History of the Department". www.imperial.ac.uk. Retrieved 25 January 2022.

Bibliography

  • Hinchley, Edith (1935). John William Hinchley: Chemical Engineer. South Kensington: Lamley & Co.
  • Divall, Colin; Johnstone, Sean (2000). Scaling Up - The Institution of Chemical Engineers and the Rise of a New Profession. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic.
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