Who was Joseph Priestley?
Chemist, Theologian, and Educationalist..
Date and Place of Birth:
13th March 1733, Birstal, Fieldhead, near Leeds,
Yorkshire, England.
Family Background:
From a family of handloom weavers and cloth-dressers.
Education:
Local Grammar School. Nonconformist Academy,
Daventry. He became a gifted scholar in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic
and many other languages.
Chronology/Biography of Joseph Priestley:
1740: Death of his
mother. Goes to live with his nonconformist Aunt. Although his time
at Grammar School was fairly short due to ill health he had the
benefit of local tutors and became proficient in physics, philosophy
and mathematics as well as several foreign languages.
1749: Whilst at
Daventry Academy he studied history, science and philosophy. He
was particularly taken by the philosopher David Hartley's ideas
on education of man and free will.
1755: He became
a Minister at the Presbyterian Church at Needham Market.
1758: Moved to Nantwich
in Cheshire where he opened a small school hoping to put some of
his ideas on education into practice.
1761: Appointed
a tutor at the Warrington Academy in Lancashire which was a major
nonconformist organisation. He made several trips to London and
there met Benjamin Franklin.
1767: Began discussing
the theory of science education and stated that the history of science
was important because it showed how human beings interpret and direct
the forces of nature. Became a Minister of the Mill Hill Chapel
in Leeds, where he began to study Chemistry.
1768: Turned his
attentions to politics and his works were to have a major influence
on Jeremy Bentham.
1772: He was elected
to the French Academy of Sciences.
1774: He accompanied
Lord Shelburne on a tour of the Continent. In a pamphlet he attacked
the British Government for depriving the American Colonists of their
rights and liberties.
1780: Elected to
the St. Petersburg Academy in Russia. Moves to Birmingham where
he became friends with and worked with many prominent members of
the Lunar Society including Josiah Wedgwood,
Matthew Boulton and James Watt.
His scientific work was of the highest importance particularly the
discovery of Oxygen but his political dealings; he formed a group
called the Rational Dissenters, attracted suspicion from the government
and the local population. He also attacked the ideas of Edmund Burke.
1791: His writings
defended the French Revolution and he formed the Constitutional
Society in Birmingham. His ideas were just as inflammatory as those
of Tom Paine and local politicians attacked
Priestley which led to an angry mob braking into his house and burning
most of his Papers and equipment. He fled the city and moved to
London where he took up a teaching post at New College in Hackney.
He was, however, just as unpopular with the local population in
London as he had been in Birmingham.
Statue of Joseph Priestley outside
Birmingham Central Library
1794: Decided to
emigrate to America and settled in Northumberland, Pennsylvania.
He continued to write on religious topics and formed the first Unitarian
Church in America.
Written Works:
- 1755:
"The Scripture Doctrine of Remission."
- 1765:
"Liberal Education for Civil and Active Life".
- 1766:
“History and Present State of Electricity.”
- 1767: "The
History of Electricity".
- 1768: "The
First Principles of Government and the Nature of Political, Civil
and Religious Liberty". "Essay on Government".
(This work provided Thomas Jefferson with ideas fore the American
Declaration of Independence).
- 1774: "The
State of of Public Liberty in General and of American Affairs
in Particular". "Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever".
- 1777: "Disquisition
relating to Matter and Sprit".
- 1782: "The
History of the Corruptions of Christianity."
- 1786: "History
and Early Opinions Concerning Jesus Christ".
- 1791: "A
Political Dialogue on the General Principles of Government".
Marriage:
1762: To Mary Wilkinson, sister of John Wilkinson
the famous iron founder.
Places of Interest:
BIRMINGHAM:
Meeting House where he gave lectures is now St
Michael's Catholic Church on Moor Street Queensway.
Statue in Chamberlain Square.
Date and Place of Death:
6th February 1804, Northumberland, Pennsylvania,
United States of America.
Age at Death:
71.
Site of Grave:
Riverview Cemetery, Northumberland, Northumberland
County, Pennsylvania.
