I've raised £4749 to help restore the grave of British chemist John A. R. Newlands (1837-1898) at West Norwood Cemetery, London.
Organised by Peter Newlands
Story
Help restore the family grave of John Alexander Reina Newlands (1837-1898) in West Norwood Cemetery, South London.
As you can see in the photograph the lead lettering has been lost in its entirety and it is impossible to read the inscription, though this is recorded in an eariler photograph.
John Newlands was a British chemist who discovered the 'Law of Octaves' in 1864, five years before the Russian chemist, Dimitri Mendeleev, announced the discovery of what is now called the Periodic Table. Newlands was ridiculed by some of his contempories but fortunately the 'Chemical News' published his papers. It is hard to imagine that Mendeleev did not have access to papers published in Chemical News as the foremost chemists of the day in Britain, France ,Gemany and Russia were always discovering new elements and exchanging ideas. The Royal Society awarded Newlands the Davy Medal in 1887 in recognition of his discovery.
His collected papers were published in his book 'On the Discovery of The Periodic Law, and on Relations among the Atomic weights' 1884.
His importance is increasingly recognised today and his childhood home received a blue plaque placed there by the Royal Society of Chemistry in 1998, the centenary of Newlands' death.
This reads:
J. A. R. Newlands 1837 - 1898, Chemist and discoverer of the Periodic Law for the chemical elements was born and raised here.
Imperial College London hold an annual Newlands Lecture in his memory.
All funds will go to the restoration of the family gravestone which includes 280 new lead letters and resurfacing of the marble gravestone.
Image: John Alexander Reina Newlands
See Elizabeth Newlands' book 'Some Surprising Cousins ' to find the link between JAR Newlands and the 'Newlands' of Banffshire'.
The grave itself is a near miraculous survivor of a past Lambeth council's illegal vandalism and wholesale destruction of Victorian graves within West Norwood Cemetery.
The Friends of West Norwood cemetery will help co-ordinate the refurbishment of the grave. The Heritage of London Trust and the Royal Society of Chemistry are major contributors supporting the restoration.
Finally, it is worth quoting from Eric Scerri's book ' The Periodic Table: Its Story and Its Significance.' 2nd edition 2020.
'There can be no doubt that Newlands ranks among the true pioneers of the modern periodic system, in particular for being the first to recognise explicitly the existance of the periodic law, which in many ways is the real crux of the matter.'
Please remember every contribution helps!
