Any ideas as to how and where a poor boy could study science and become a manufacturing chemist between 1895 and 1900? My grandfather's entire family (i.e. both parents plus all six male siblings) worked at 'hard' labour trades (e.g. glass blowing, iron foundry work, etc.) but somehow he alone managed to get an education and eventually became a chemist. (Unfortunately, he is not listed as a graduate of Birmingham University so where would he have gone to get this education). Thanks
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Becoming a chemist 1895 to 1900?
- Thread starter JaneOz
- Start date
Jane
Probably at a technical college . At that time manufacturing would have probably recruited from there rather than a more academic institution. I would have thought it was possible (unless you know differently) that he never gained any academic qualifications, but was trained "on the job". Depending on which firm he worked for, the job of a works chemist, while requiring accuracy, delicacy, a reasonable mathematical ability and intelligence would likely not have required professional qualifications.
In the 1897 Kellys directory there is listed the municipal technical school in Suffolk St and the Aston Manor Technical School in Ettingham Road. also listed is the Handsworth Technical School, Soho Road, but this, in the directory, does not list a chemistry department, and the Kings Norton Technical Institute and the Northfield Technical Institute, neither of which list any departments.
Probably at a technical college . At that time manufacturing would have probably recruited from there rather than a more academic institution. I would have thought it was possible (unless you know differently) that he never gained any academic qualifications, but was trained "on the job". Depending on which firm he worked for, the job of a works chemist, while requiring accuracy, delicacy, a reasonable mathematical ability and intelligence would likely not have required professional qualifications.
In the 1897 Kellys directory there is listed the municipal technical school in Suffolk St and the Aston Manor Technical School in Ettingham Road. also listed is the Handsworth Technical School, Soho Road, but this, in the directory, does not list a chemistry department, and the Kings Norton Technical Institute and the Northfield Technical Institute, neither of which list any departments.
Thanks very much Mikejee. My grandfather's name was Ernest Bruce Free (1878-1929) and I've always wondered how he did it? He was the 5th of six children and the only one not engaged in a hard manual trade by age 14. (He had one sister named Florence.) The census for 1901 shows my grandfather as a 'student' but, I know that between about 1892 and 1920, he was working for a chemical company called, Southall Bros and Barclay in Birmingham. Do you know if any of the technical schools you have listed publish the names of graduates going back to the turn of the 1900s? Best wishes, Jane
Cannot help you with the list of names, but below is a link for a report from Southalls for 1902 on their products, which seems to have possibly been used as a catalogue of their products. So it is likely that you grandfather would have worked on these analyses Some other years reports are also on the internet archive
https://ia800900.us.archive.org/13/items/b21687468/b21687468.pdf
https://ia800900.us.archive.org/13/items/b21687468/b21687468.pdf
