Arthur George Perkin, 1861 - 1937

Arthur was the second son of the late Sir William Henry Perkin and was born at Sudbury on 13 December 1861 ; he was only a year and a half younger than his brother, the late William Henry Perkin, jun. Although these two distinguished organic chemists received the same parental impetus and made some early, but rather unsuccessful, essays in collaboration, their individual originality led to the enrichment of very different aspects of the subject. William, as is well known, became the disciple of Baeyer, carried the flag to Britain and maintained and developed the traditions of his school at Edinburgh, Manchester, and Oxford. Arthur, under the influence of Professor J. J. Hummel, became interested in the natural organic colouring matters ; one might almost say the natural dyestuffs, and in due course he was acknowledged throughout the world as the master of his chosen subject of research. Although Arthur, like William, became a teacher and professor, his influence in national scientific affairs and indirectly through his pupils, though considerable, cannot be compared with that exercised by his brother. Arthur was most at home at the bench, pursuing his investigations with his own hands, and it is significant that of his 270 scientific papers no fewer than 60 are published without collaborators.