Editing William Henry Perkin

{{Short description|British chemist known for his accidental discovery of the first synthetic dye}}
{{for|the organic chemist and son of William Henry Perkin|William Henry Perkin Jr.}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix = Sir
| name             = William Henry Perkin
| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|UK|FRS}}
| image            = William Henry Perkin.jpg
| caption          = Perkin in 1906
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1838|3|12|df=y}}
| birth_place      = [[London]], England
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1907|7|14|1838|3|12|df=y}}
| death_place      = [[London]], England
| alma_mater       = [[Royal College of Chemistry]]
| known_for        = [[Aniline]] dye<br>[[Mauveine|Perkin's mauve]]<br>[[Perkin reaction]]<br>[[Perkin rearrangement]]
| field            = [[Chemistry]]
| prizes           = {{plainlist|
* [[Royal Medal]] <small>(1879)</small>
* [[Longstaff Prize]] {{small|(1888)}}
* [[Davy Medal]] {{small|(1889)}}
* [[Albert Medal (Royal Society of Arts)|Albert Medal]] {{small|(1890)}}
* [[Perkin Medal]] {{small|(1906)}}
}}
| signature        = William Henry Perkin - signature.png
}}
'''Sir William Henry Perkin''' {{postnom|UK|FRS}} (12 March 1838 – 14 July 1907)<ref>{{cite ODNB|id=35477|title=Perkin, Sir William Henry}}</ref> was a British [[chemist]] and entrepreneur best known for his serendipitous discovery of the first commercial synthetic [[organic chemistry|organic]] [[dye]], [[mauveine]], made from [[aniline]]. Though he failed in trying to [[Chemical synthesis|synthesise]] [[quinine]] for the treatment of [[malaria]], he became successful in the field of [[dye]]s after his first discovery at the age of 18.<ref name="CNN">{{cite news|title=The color purple: How an accidental discovery changed fashion forever|url=https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/perkin-mauve-purple/index.html|agency=CNN|date=12 March 2018}}</ref>

Perkin set up a factory to produce the dye industrially. Lee Blaszczyk, professor of business history at the University of Leeds, states, "By laying the foundation for the [[Synthetic organic chemistry|synthetic organic chemical]]s industry, Perkin helped to revolutionize the world of fashion."<ref name="CNN"/>

== Early years ==
William Perkin was born in the [[East End of London]],<ref>At 3 King David Lane, off [[Cable Street]], [[Shadwell]]: Baptisms Solemnised in the Parish of Saint Paul, Shadwell, County of Middlesex, in the Year 1838, p.  181.</ref> the youngest of the seven children of George Perkin, a successful carpenter. His mother, Sarah, was of [[Scottish people|Scottish]] descent and moved to East London as a child.<ref name="findarticles.com">UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography (2003). Accessed 18 March 2008.</ref> He was baptized in the Anglican parish church of [[St. Paul's Church, Shadwell|St Paul's, Shadwell]], which had been connected to [[James Cook]], [[Jane Randolph Jefferson]] (mother of [[Thomas Jefferson]]) and [[John Wesley]].

At the age of 14, Perkin attended the [[City of London School]], where he was taught by Thomas Hall, who fostered his scientific talent and encouraged him to pursue a career in chemistry.<ref name="findarticles.com" />

== Accidental discovery of mauveine ==
In 1853, at the age of 15, Perkin entered the [[Royal College of Chemistry]], now part of [[Imperial College London]], where he began his studies under [[August Wilhelm von Hofmann]].<ref name="Chisholm 1911, p. 173">{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Perkin, Sir William Henry |volume=21 |page=173}}</ref> At this time, [[chemistry]] was still primitive: although the major [[Chemical element|elements]] had been discovered and techniques to analyze the proportions of the elements in many [[Chemical compound|compounds]] were in place, it was still a difficult proposition to determine the arrangement of the elements in compounds. Hofmann had published a hypothesis on how it might be possible to [[Quinine total synthesis|synthesise quinine]], an expensive natural substance much in demand for the treatment of [[malaria]].<ref name="findarticles.com"/> Having become one of Hofmann's assistants, Perkin embarked on a series of experiments to try to achieve this end.

During the [[Easter]] vacation in 1856, Perkin performed some further experiments in the crude laboratory in his apartment on the top floor of his home on [[Cable Street]] in east London. It was here that he made his great accidental discovery: that [[aniline]] could be partly [[Chemical transformation|transformed]] into a crude mixture which, when [[Extraction (chemistry)|extracted]] with [[ethanol|alcohol]], produced a substance with an intense [[purple]] colour.<ref name="Chisholm 1911, p. 173"/> Perkin, who had an interest in painting and photography, immediately became enthusiastic about this result and carried out further trials with his friend [[Arthur Herbert Church|Arthur Church]] and his brother Thomas. Since these experiments were not part of the work on quinine which had been assigned to Perkin, the trio carried them out in a hut in Perkin's garden to keep them secret from Hofmann.

[[File:Charles Rees (in mauveine-dyed bowtie).jpg|thumb|upright|Professor [[Charles Rees]] wearing a bow tie dyed with an original sample of [[mauveine]] while holding a [[Royal Society of Chemistry]] journal named after Perkin]]
They satisfied themselves that they might be able to scale up production of the purple substance and [[Commercialization|commercialise]] it as a [[dye]], which they called [[mauveine]]. Their initial experiments indicated that it dyed [[silk]] in a way which was [[Colour fastness|stable]] when washed or exposed to light. They sent some samples to a dye works in [[Perth, Scotland|Perth]], Scotland, and received a very promising reply from the general manager of the company, [[Robert Pullar]]. Perkin filed for a [[patent]] in August 1856, when he was still only 18.<ref name="Chisholm 1911, p. 173"/>

At the time, all dyes used for colouring cloth were natural substances, many of which were expensive and labour-intensive to extract—and many lacked stability, or fastness. The colour purple, which had been a mark of aristocracy and prestige since ancient times, was especially expensive and difficult to produce. Its extraction was variable and complicated, and so Perkin and his brother realised that they had discovered a possible substitute whose production could be commercially successful.<ref name="findarticles.com"/>

Perkin could not have chosen a better time or place for his discovery: England was the cradle of the [[Industrial Revolution]], largely driven by advances in the production of textiles; the science of chemistry had advanced to the point where it could have a major impact on industrial processes; and [[coal tar]], the major source of his raw material, was an abundant by-product of the process for making [[coal gas]] and [[Coke (fuel)|coke]].<ref name="chemistry.msu.edu">Michigan State University, Department of Chemistry website.{{cite web|url=http://www.chemistry.msu.edu/Portraits/PortraitsHH_Detail.asp?HH_LName=Perkin |title=Archived copy |access-date=19 March 2008|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030202902/http://www.chemistry.msu.edu/Portraits/PortraitsHH_Detail.asp?HH_LName=Perkin|archive-date=30 October 2007}} Accessed 18 March 2008.</ref>

[[File:The craze for aniline dyes.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|The craze for aniline dyes, satirised in this [[George du Maurier]] cartoon]]
Having invented the dye, Perkin was still faced with the problems of raising the [[Capital investment|capital]] for producing it, manufacturing it cheaply, adapting it for use in dyeing [[cotton]], gaining acceptance for it among commercial dyers, and creating public demand for it. He was active in all of these areas: he persuaded his father to put up the capital, and his brothers to partner with him to build a factory; he invented a [[mordant]] for cotton; he gave technical advice to the dyeing industry; and he publicised his invention of the dye.<ref name="Garfield">{{Cite book |last=Garfield |first=Simon |title=Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color that Changed the World |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |year=2001 |isbn=978-0393020052}}</ref>

Public demand was increased when a similar colour was adopted by [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]] in Britain and by [[Empress Eugénie]], wife of Napoleon III, in France, and when the [[crinoline]] or hooped-skirt, whose manufacture used a large quantity of cloth, became fashionable.<ref name="Garfield" /> Perkin’s mauve was cheaper than traditional, natural purple dyes and became so popular that English humourists joked about the ’mauve measles’.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Silk skirt and blouse dyed with Perkin's Mauve Aniline Dye {{!}} Science Museum Group Collection|url=https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co67835/silk-skirt-and-blouse-dyed-with-perkins-mauve-aniline-dye-dye-cloth|access-date=19 November 2021|website=collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk|language=en}}</ref> Everything fell into place: with hard work and lucky timing, Perkin became rich.<ref name="findarticles.com"/> After the discovery of mauveine, many new [[aniline dye]]s appeared (some discovered by Perkin himself), and factories producing them were constructed across Europe.

== Later years ==
[[File:WilliamPerkinBluePlaque.png|thumb|Blue plaque in [[Cable Street]]]]
[[File:Section of Coal Tar Colour Works at Greenford. 19th C Wellcome M0014186.jpg|thumb|Section of Coal Tar Colour Works at Greenford]]
William Perkin continued active research in [[organic chemistry]] for the rest of his life: he discovered and marketed other [[synthetic dyes]], including ''Britannia Violet'' and ''Perkin's Green''; he discovered ways to make [[coumarin]], one of the first synthetic raw materials of [[perfume]], and [[cinnamic acid]]. (The reaction used to make the last became known as the [[Perkin reaction]].)<ref name="chemistry.msu.edu"/> Local lore has it that the colour of the nearby [[Grand Union Canal]] changed from week to week depending on the activity at Perkin's [[Greenford]] dyeworks.

In 1869, Perkin found a method for the commercial production from [[anthracene]] of the brilliant red dye [[alizarin]], which had been isolated and identified from [[Rubia|madder]] root some forty years earlier in 1826 by the French chemist [[Pierre Robiquet]], simultaneously with [[Purpurin (dye)|purpurin]], another red dye of lesser industrial interest, but the German chemical company [[BASF]] patented the same process one day before he did.<ref name="Chisholm 1911, p. 173"/>

During the next decade, the new German Empire was rapidly eclipsing Britain as the centre of Europe's chemical industry. By the 1890s, Germany had a near-[[monopoly]] on the business and Perkin was compelled to sell off his holdings and retire.

== Death ==
[[File:William Perkin's Grave, Christchurch, Harrow.jpg|thumb|upright|Perkin's gravestone]]
Perkin died in 1907 of [[pneumonia]] and other complications resulting from a burst [[Vermiform appendix|appendix]]. He is buried in the grounds of Christchurch, [[Harrow, London|Harrow]], [[Middlesex]].<ref name="Leather">''The Leathersellers' Review 2005–06'', pp 12–14</ref> His will was proved on 28 August 1907 at £86,231 4s. 11d. (roughly equivalent to £{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|86231|1907|r=0}}}} in {{Inflation-year|UK}}{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}).<ref name="probate">{{cite web |url=https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/Calendar?surname=Perkin&yearOfDeath=1907&page=1#calendar |title=Perkin, Sir William Henry |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=1907 |website=probatesearchservice.gov |publisher=UK Government |access-date=10 August 2019 }}</ref>

== Family ==
Perkin married Jemima Harriet, the daughter of John Lissett, in 1859, which resulted in two sons, ([[William Henry Perkin Jr.]] and [[Arthur George Perkin]]). Perkin's second marriage was in 1866, to Alexandrine Caroline, daughter of Helman Mollwo. They had one son (Frederick Mollwo Perkin) and four daughters. All three sons became chemists.<ref name="Leather" />

== Honours, awards and commemorations ==
[[File:Perkin factory.jpg|thumb|Blue plaque in [[Greenford]], [[England]], near the [[Grand Union Canal]]]]
Perkin received many honours in his lifetime. In June 1866, he was elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]]. In 1879, received their [[Royal Medal]] and, in 1889, their [[Davy Medal]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www2.royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=1&dsqSearch=%28Surname%3D%27perkin%27%29|title= Library and Archive catalogue|publisher= Royal Society|access-date= 8 November 2010|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111107053225/http://www2.royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=1&dsqSearch=%28Surname%3D%27perkin%27%29|archive-date= 7 November 2011}}</ref> He was [[knight]]ed in 1906, and in the same year was awarded the first [[Perkin Medal]], established to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of his discovery of [[mauveine]].<ref name="Chisholm 1911, p. 173" /> Today, the Perkin Medal is widely acknowledged as the highest honour in the U.S. industrial chemistry and has been awarded annually by the American section of the [[Society of Chemical Industry]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Perkin Medal History|url=http://sci-america.org/site/?page_id=68|agency=SCI America|date=12 March 2018}}</ref><ref name="SCI Perkin Medal">{{cite web|title=SCI Perkin Medal|url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/sci-perkin-medal|website=[[Science History Institute]]|date=31 May 2016|access-date=24 March 2018}}</ref> He was President of the [[Society of Chemical Industry]] from 1884-85.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.soci.org/about-us/history/sci-presidents | title=SCI Presidents }}</ref>

Perkin was a [[Liveryman]] of the [[Leathersellers' Company]] for 46 years and was elected Master of the Company for the year 1896–97.<ref>Journal of the Chemical Society, Part 4. p. 1741. The Society. 1938</ref>

Today [[blue plaque]]s mark the sites of Perkin's home on [[Cable Street]], by the junction with King David Lane, and the Perkin factory in [[Greenford]], [[Middlesex]].

A portrait, by Edward Railton Catterns (1838–1909), is owned by the University of Strathclyde.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/sir-william-henry-perkin-18381907-lld-ds-frs-155725|title = Sir William Henry Perkin (1838–1907), LLD, DS, FRS &#124; Art UK}}</ref>

On 12 March 2018, search engine [[Google]] showed a [[Google Doodle]] to mark Perkin's 180th Birthday.<ref>[https://doodles.google/doodle/sir-william-henry-perkins-180th-birthday/ "Sir William Henry Perkin’s 180th Birthday"]. Google.com. Retrieved 12 March 2018</ref>

=== William Perkin High School ===
In 2013, the [[William Perkin Church of England High School]] opened in [[Greenford]], [[Middlesex]]. The school is operated by the [[Twyford Church of England Academies Trust]] (which also operates [[Twyford Church of England High School]]). The school is named after William Perkin, and has adopted a [[mauve]] uniform and colour scheme, in tribute to his discovery of mauveine.<ref>The history of Perkin and Mauveine is outlined on the school's [http://www.williamperkin.org.uk/welcome/ website here] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004220659/http://www.williamperkin.org.uk/welcome/ |date=4 October 2013 }}.</ref>

=== Imperial College London===
Since 2007, when [[Imperial College London]] gained its own Royal Charter, the [[Academic dress of Imperial College London]] features purple across the range of garments to celebrate the work of Perkin.<ref>[http://www.burgon.org.uk/practice/regs/uk/Imperial.pdf "Imperial College London Academic dress"]. Burgon.co.uk. Retrieved 12 March 018</ref> In 2015, President of the College, Professor Alice Gast, stated that: "The colour purple symbolises the spirit of endeavour and discovery, and the risk-taking nature that characterises those with an Imperial education and training."<ref>[https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/165452/imperial-students-celebrate-largest-ever-postgraduate/ "Imperial students celebrate in largest ever Postgraduate Graduation Ceremonies"]. Imperial College London. Retrieved 12 March 2018</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite journal |title=Perkin and the Dyestuffs Industry in Britain |author=Brightman, R. |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |year=1956 |volume=177 |issue=4514 |pages=805–856 |doi=10.1038/177815a0|bibcode = 1956Natur.177..815B |s2cid=4275400 }}
* {{cite journal |title=Sir William Henry Perkin: a review of his life, work and legacy |author=Holme, I. |journal=[[Coloration Technology]] |year=2006 |volume=122 |issue=5 |pages=235–251 |doi=10.1111/j.1478-4408.2006.00041.x}}
* [[Simon Garfield|Garfield, Simon]], ''Mauve: How One Man Invented a Colour that Changed the World'', {{ISBN|0-393-02005-3}} (2000).
* Travis, Anthony S. "Perkin, Sir William Henry (1838–1907)" in the ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'', edited C. Matthew et al. [[Oxford University Press]]: 2004. {{ISBN|0-19-861411-X}}.
* Farrell, Jerome, "The Master Leatherseller who Changed the World" in ''The Leathersellers' Review'' 2005–06, pp.&nbsp;12–14

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{Librivox author |id=11729}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perkin, William}}
[[Category:1838 births]]
[[Category:1907 deaths]]
[[Category:English people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:People from Wapping]]
[[Category:Alumni of Imperial College London]]
[[Category:19th-century British chemists]]
[[Category:19th-century British inventors]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:People of the Industrial Revolution]]
[[Category:Academics of Imperial College London]]
[[Category:Chemical industry in London]]
[[Category:Textile workers]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Royal Medal winners]]
[[Category:Deaths from pneumonia in England]]
[[Category:Scientists from London]]