Lyon Playfair, 1st Baron Playfair
Encyclopedia
Lyon Playfair, 1st Baron Playfair GCB
, PC, FRS
(1 May 1818 – 29 May 1898) was a Scottish scientist and Liberal
politician.
, Bengal
, the son of George Playfair, Inspector General of Hospitals in that region, and Janet, daughter of John Ross. He was named after his uncle, Sir Hugh Lyon Playfair
, and was educated at the University of St Andrews
, the Andersonian Institute in Glasgow
, and the University of Edinburgh
. After going to Calcutta at the end of 1837, he became private laboratory assistant to Thomas Graham
at University College, London, and in 1839 went to work under Justus Liebig at the University of Giessen
.
, Playfair became manager of a calico works in Primrose, near Clitheroe
, and in 1843 was appointed Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Manchester Institution
, where he was assisted by Robert Angus Smith
. Two years later, he was made chemist to the Geological Survey
, and subsequently became Professor in the new School of Mines. In 1848, he was elected to the Royal Society, and three years later was made Special Commissioner and a member of the executive committee of the Great Exhibition.
Appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath
that same year, Playfair also became Gentleman Usher
to Prince Albert, and in 1853 was appointed Secretary of the Department of Science, in which capacity he advocated the use of poison gas against the Russians in the Crimean War
. In 1855, he was a commissioner of the Exposition Universelle
, and two years later became President of the Chemical Society
, finally returning to Edinburgh University in 1858 as Professor of Chemistry there.
Member of Parliament
for the Universities of Edinburgh and St Andrews
, being sworn of the Privy Council and made Postmaster General
in Gladstone's
government in 1873. The Liberals lost power in early 1874 but on their return to office in 1880, Playfair was appointed Chairman of Ways and Means
and Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons
, holding these posts until 1883, when he was created a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
. He was subsequently President of the British Association in 1885. In February 1886 he returned to the government as Vice-President of the Committee on Education under Gladstone, a post he held until the government fell in July of the same year. He was made a member of the Council of the Duchy of Cornwall
in 1889.
Having represented Leeds South
since 1885, Playfair left the House of Commons
in 1892 and was ennobled as Baron Playfair, of St Andrews
in the County of Fife
. He served as a Lord in Waiting (government whip in the House of Lords
) under Gladstone and then Lord Rosebery
between 1892 and 1895. He was further honoured when he was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
in 1895 and awarded the Harben Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of Public Health
in 1897. Playfair is also remembered for promoting a new cipher system invented by Charles Wheatstone
, now known as the Playfair cipher
.
, London
, in May 1898, aged 80, and was buried in St Andrews. He was succeeded in the barony by his son from his first marriage, George.
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, PC, FRS
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
(1 May 1818 – 29 May 1898) was a Scottish scientist and Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
politician.
Background and education
Playfair was born at ChunarChunar
Chunar छुनर شُنَر, located in Mirzapur District of Uttar Pradesh state, India, is an ancient town. The railway tracks passing through Chunar leads to major destinations of India, including Howrah, Delhi, Tatanagar and Varanasi. National Highway number 7 also passes through Chunar...
, Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
, the son of George Playfair, Inspector General of Hospitals in that region, and Janet, daughter of John Ross. He was named after his uncle, Sir Hugh Lyon Playfair
Sir Hugh Lyon Playfair
Sir Hugh Lyon Playfair came to St Andrews in 1834 and was subsequently Provost; in his time, St Andrews "was transformed into a thriving modern burgh"....
, and was educated at the University of St Andrews
University of St Andrews
The University of St Andrews, informally referred to as "St Andrews", is the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the English-speaking world after Oxford and Cambridge. The university is situated in the town of St Andrews, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It was founded between...
, the Andersonian Institute in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, and the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
. After going to Calcutta at the end of 1837, he became private laboratory assistant to Thomas Graham
Thomas Graham (chemist)
Thomas Graham FRS was a nineteenth-century Scottish chemist who is best-remembered today for his pioneering work in dialysis and the diffusion of gases.- Life and work :...
at University College, London, and in 1839 went to work under Justus Liebig at the University of Giessen
University of Giessen
The University of Giessen is officially called the Justus Liebig University Giessen after its most famous faculty member, Justus von Liebig, the founder of modern agricultural chemistry and inventor of artificial fertiliser.-History:The University of Gießen is among the oldest institutions of...
.
Career until 1869
After returning to BritainUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
, Playfair became manager of a calico works in Primrose, near Clitheroe
Clitheroe
Clitheroe is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley in Lancashire, England. It is 1½ miles from the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for tourists in the area. It has a population of 14,697...
, and in 1843 was appointed Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Manchester Institution
Royal Manchester Institution
The Royal Manchester Institution was an English learned society founded on 1 October 1823 at a public meeting held in the Exchange Room by Manchester merchants, local artists and others keen to dispel the image of Manchester as a city lacking in culture and taste.The Institution was housed in a...
, where he was assisted by Robert Angus Smith
Robert Angus Smith
Robert Angus Smith was a Scottish chemist, who investigated numerous environmental issues. He is famous for his research on air pollution in 1852, in the course of which he discovered what came to be known as acid rain...
. Two years later, he was made chemist to the Geological Survey
Geological survey
The term geological survey can be used to describe both the conduct of a survey for geological purposes and an institution holding geological information....
, and subsequently became Professor in the new School of Mines. In 1848, he was elected to the Royal Society, and three years later was made Special Commissioner and a member of the executive committee of the Great Exhibition.
Appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
that same year, Playfair also became Gentleman Usher
Gentleman Usher
Gentleman Usher is a title for some officers of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom. See List of Gentlemen Ushers for a list of office-holders.-Historical:...
to Prince Albert, and in 1853 was appointed Secretary of the Department of Science, in which capacity he advocated the use of poison gas against the Russians in the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
. In 1855, he was a commissioner of the Exposition Universelle
Exposition Universelle (1855)
The Exposition Universelle of 1855 was an International Exhibition held on the Champs-Elysées in Paris from May 15 to November 15, 1855. Its full official title was the Exposition Universelle des produits de l'Agriculture, de l'Industrie et des Beaux-Arts de Paris 1855.The exposition was a major...
, and two years later became President of the Chemical Society
Chemical Society
The Chemical Society was formed in 1841 as a result of increased interest in scientific matters....
, finally returning to Edinburgh University in 1858 as Professor of Chemistry there.
Political career
In 1868, Playfair was elected LiberalLiberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for the Universities of Edinburgh and St Andrews
Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities (UK Parliament constituency)
Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities was a university constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1868 until 1918. It was merged with the Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities constituency to form the Combined Scottish Universities...
, being sworn of the Privy Council and made Postmaster General
United Kingdom Postmaster General
The Postmaster General of the United Kingdom is a defunct Cabinet-level ministerial position in HM Government. Aside from maintaining the postal system, the Telegraph Act of 1868 established the Postmaster General's right to exclusively maintain electric telegraphs...
in Gladstone's
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
government in 1873. The Liberals lost power in early 1874 but on their return to office in 1880, Playfair was appointed Chairman of Ways and Means
Chairman of Ways and Means
In the United Kingdom, the Chairman of Ways and Means is a senior member of the House of Commons who acts as one of the Speaker's three deputies...
and Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons
Speaker of the British House of Commons
The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the United Kingdom's lower chamber of Parliament. The current Speaker is John Bercow, who was elected on 22 June 2009, following the resignation of Michael Martin...
, holding these posts until 1883, when he was created a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
. He was subsequently President of the British Association in 1885. In February 1886 he returned to the government as Vice-President of the Committee on Education under Gladstone, a post he held until the government fell in July of the same year. He was made a member of the Council of the Duchy of Cornwall
Duchy of Cornwall
The Duchy of Cornwall is one of two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Lancaster. The eldest son of the reigning British monarch inherits the duchy and title of Duke of Cornwall at the time of his birth, or of his parent's succession to the throne. If the monarch has no son, the...
in 1889.
Having represented Leeds South
Leeds South (UK Parliament constituency)
Leeds South was a parliamentary constituency in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until it was abolished for the 1983 general election...
since 1885, Playfair left the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
in 1892 and was ennobled as Baron Playfair, of St Andrews
St Andrews
St Andrews is a university town and former royal burgh on the east coast of Fife in Scotland. The town is named after Saint Andrew the Apostle.St Andrews has a population of 16,680, making this the fifth largest settlement in Fife....
in the County of Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
. He served as a Lord in Waiting (government whip in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
) under Gladstone and then Lord Rosebery
Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery
Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, KG, PC was a British Liberal statesman and Prime Minister. Between the death of his father, in 1851, and the death of his grandfather, the 4th Earl, in 1868, he was known by the courtesy title of Lord Dalmeny.Rosebery was a Liberal Imperialist who...
between 1892 and 1895. He was further honoured when he was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
in 1895 and awarded the Harben Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of Public Health
Royal Institute of Public Health
Royal Institute of Public Health is a British awarding body recognised by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority.- History :In October 2008 the RIPH merged with the RSH to form the new Royal Society for Public Health...
in 1897. Playfair is also remembered for promoting a new cipher system invented by Charles Wheatstone
Charles Wheatstone
Sir Charles Wheatstone FRS , was an English scientist and inventor of many scientific breakthroughs of the Victorian era, including the English concertina, the stereoscope , and the Playfair cipher...
, now known as the Playfair cipher
Playfair cipher
The Playfair cipher or Playfair square is a manual symmetric encryption technique and was the first literal digraph substitution cipher. The scheme was invented in 1854 by Charles Wheatstone, but bears the name of Lord Playfair who promoted the use of the cipher.The technique encrypts pairs of...
.
Family
Lord Playfair married Margaret Eliza, daughter of James Oakes, in 1846. After her death in August 1855 he married Jean Ann, daughter of Crawley Millington, in 1857. There were children from both marriages. Jean Ann died in 1877. After her death, he married Edith Russell of Boston, whose 1884 portrait is in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Lord Playfair died at his home in South KensingtonSouth Kensington
South Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London. It is a built-up area located 2.4 miles west south-west of Charing Cross....
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, in May 1898, aged 80, and was buried in St Andrews. He was succeeded in the barony by his son from his first marriage, George.