The Society of Public Analysts was formed in the United Kingdom in 1874 and subsequently became the Society for Analytical Chemistry. It was incorporated in 1907. The chemical industry had grown rapidly in the 19th century, and developments in the alkali, explosive and agricultural chemical fields produced a growing need for analytical chemists. Many of these chemists had little or no training in chemistry, and their lack of expertise was a danger to the public. Shortly after the Adulteration of Food and Drink Act 1860 (23 & 24 Vict. c. 84) the society was formed. It established adulteration and food standards, and educated analysts in legal work. It published The Analyst, Analytical Abstracts and the Proceedings of the Society for Analytical Chemistry (from 1964 to 1974). In April 1966 it presented its first Gold Medal to Herbert Newton Wilson (author of An Approach To Chemical Analysis) On 15 May 1980, it amalgamated with the Chemical Society, the Royal Institute of Chemistry, and the Faraday Society to become the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Presidents Theophilus Redwood: 1875–1876 August Dupré: 1877–1878 John Muter: 1879–1880 Charles Heisch: 1881–1882 George William Wigner: 1883–1884 Dr Alfred Hill: 1885–1886 Alfred Henry Allen: 1887–1888 Matthew Adams: 1889–1890 Otto Hehner: 1891–1892 Sir Charles Alexander Cameron: 1893–1894 Sir Thomas Stevenson: 1895–1896 Bernard Dyer: 1897–1898 Walter Fisher: 1899–1900 Edward Voelcker: 1901–1902 Thomas Fairley: 1903–1904 Edward Bevan: 1905–1906 John Clark: 1907 Robert Rattray Tatlock: 1908–1909 Edward Voelcker: 1910–1911 Leonard Archbutt: 1912–1913 Alfred Chaston Chapman: 1914–1915 George Embrey: 1916–1917 Samuel Rideal: 1918–1919 Alfred Smetham: 1920–1921 Percy Andrew Ellis Richards: 1922–1923 George Rudd Thompson: 1924–1925 Edward Richards Bolton: 1926–1927 Edward Hinks: 1928–1929 John Thomas Dunn: 1930–1931 Francis William Frederick Arnaud: 1932–1933 John Evans: 1934–1935 Gerald Roche Lynch: 1936–1937 William Henry Roberts: 1938–1939 Edwin Burnthorpe Hughes: 1940–1942 Samuel Ernest Melling: 1943–1944 Gordon Wickham Monier-Williams: 1945–1946 Lewis Eynon: 1947–1948 George Taylor: 1949–1950 John Ralph Nicholls: 1951–1952 Douglas William Kent-Jones: 1953–1954 Kenneth Alan Williams: 1955–1956 Jack Hubert Hamence: 1957–1958 Ralph Clark Chirnside: 1959–1960 Arthur James Amos: 1961–1962 Donald Clarence Garrett: 1962–1963 Albert Arthur Smales: 1964–1966 Arthur George Jones: 1967–1968 Thomas Summers West: 1969–1970 Clifford Whalley: 1971–1972
References
History of Royal Society of Chemistry and the former societies Society Information from Royal Society of Chemistry archives Proceedings of the Society for Analytical Chemistry