The First Electric Home
The final home of pioneering chemist Sir William Crookes.
Location: 7 Kensington Park Gardens, Kensington, W11 3HB
Description: This was the home to British chemist and physicist Sir William Crookes from 1880 to his death in 1919.
Crookes was a pioneer of vacuum tubes and attended the Royal College of Chemistry working on spectroscopy. He invented the Crookes tube in 1875, a fundamental discovery.
He is also credited with discovering the element thallium, announced in 1861, with the help of spectroscopy.
In 1895, he identified the first known sample of helium and in 1913, Crookes invented the 100% ultraviolet blocking sunglass lens.
He carried out all of his later work here, in his private laboratory on the first floor.
It was also here that he became President of the Society for Psychical Research, having first become interested in spiritualism following the death of his younger brother.
He bought the house for 7500 including furnishings from Mr John Batley of Byfleet.
The house, it was claimed in The Life of Sir William Crookes, was the first house in England to be lit by electricity.
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The final home of pioneering chemist Sir William Crookes. |
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Other places nearby:
Charles Babbage was born here», 4.7km
The Adelaide Gallery», 3.2km
Balloonist Gleisher lived here», 8.7km
Bouncing Bomb inventor's house», 7.2km
Sir Isaac Newton lived here», 3.1km
Huggins' Observatory», 5.7km
Upton House», 9.8km
Charles Darwin lived here», 3.0km
Edmund Halley's Tomb», 9.3km
Joseph Priestley lived here», 7.0km
Location Pinpointed:
pinpointing the forgotten and lost history of London
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