The Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, popularly known as the Lit. & Phil., is one of the oldest learned societies in the United Kingdom and second oldest provincial learned society (after the Spalding Gentlemen's Society). Prominent members have included Robert Owen, John Dalton, James Prescott Joule, Sir William Fairbairn, Tom Kilburn, Peter Mark Roget, Sir Ernest Rutherford, Alan Turing, Sir Joseph Whitworth and Dorothy Hodgkin.

History

It was established in February 1781, as the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester, by Thomas Percival, Thomas Barnes, Thomas Henry, Thomas Butterworth Bayley and others. The first formal meeting of the society took place on 14 March 1781. Meetings were held in a back room of Cross Street Chapel until December 1799, after which the society moved into its own premises in George Street. John Dalton conducted his experiments at these premises. The Society's original premises on George Street were destroyed during the Manchester Blitz (around January 1941), at which time its library comprised more than 50,000 volumes as well as historic artefacts, portraits, and archives. Its replacement (built in the 1960s) was constructed using high alumina cement (referred to as having "concrete cancer") and was demolished in the 1980s. It became a registered charity (No. 235313) in 1964. Membership is open to anyone aged over 16 years and lectures are held both in person at venues in Manchester City Centre, and (since 2020) online. There are on average 30 lectures each season and non-members are welcome to attend. The society has more than 400 members. The Society operates from an office situated in Colony Jactin House, Ancoats, Manchester, and has three permanent staff.

Activities

The Society organises a range of lectures, including the Wilde, Joule and Dalton Lectures and three lectures annually specifically for Young People. The most prestigious lectures are the Percival Lecture and the Manchester Lecture, and in some years the most distinguished speakers are presented with the Dalton Medal. Since the local universities ceased offering extra-curricular courses the Lit. & Phil. has seen an increase in both membership and in the attendance of non-members at lectures.

Members

Notable Members, in addition to those above, have included the Nobel Laureates, Sir Robert Robinson, Sir Norman Haworth, and Niels Bohr, as well as Chaim Weizmann, Hans Geiger, Sir William Roberts, Lyon, Lord Playfair, William Gaskell, Sir William de Wiveleslie Abney, Charles William Sutton, Sir James Kay-Shuttleworth, Joseph Jordan, Henry Moseley, Sir Adolphus William Ward, Stanley Jevons, James Prince Lee, Sir Edward Leader Williams, William Axon, Sir Henry Hoyle Howorth, Samuel Greg, Sir Edward Frankland, Samuel Hibbert-Ware and Moses Tyson. Honorary Members have included Stephen Hawking, William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, Robert Bunsen, Sergey Kapitsa, Dmitri Mendeleev, Sir Cyril Hinshelwood, Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw, Jöns Jacob Berzelius and John Mercer.

Memoirs

The society's Memoirs and Proceedings (first published in 1783) was, at the time of its launch, the only regular scientific journal in the United Kingdom except for the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. The Manchester Memoirs has been published continuously since the first edition. It contains the transactions of the society (most notably the text of many recent lectures) and is distributed to members and to similar institutions and libraries throughout the world by subscription. Copies are also available for purchase by non-members.

Dalton Medal

Named in honour of the Society's longest-serving President, the scientist John Dalton, the Dalton Medal is a distinction rarely bestowed and is the Society’s highest award. It is given to those who have made a distinguished contribution to science. Since 1898 the medal has been awarded on only fifteen occasions: all recipients have been Fellows of the Royal Society and many have been Nobel Laureates. Several medallists have had Manchester and University of Manchester/Owens College connections with the Departments of Physics and Astronomy, Chemistry and Engineering. So far, only one woman has been a recipient of this medal.

Officers

Presidents

• 1781–82 Peter Mainwaring • 1781–89 James Massey • 1782–86 Dr Thomas Percival (I) • 1789–1804 Dr Thomas Percival (II) • 1805–07 Rev. George Walker • 1807–09 Thomas Henry (I) • 1809 Dr John Hull • 1809–16 Thomas Henry (II) • 1816–44 John Dalton • 1844–47 Dr Edward Holme • 1848–50 Eaton Hodgkinson • 1851–54 John Moore • 1855–59 Sir William Fairbairn, Bt • 1860–62 James Prescott Joule (I) • 1862–64 Edward William Binney (I) • 1864–66 Dr Robert Angus Smith • 1866–68 Dr Henry Edward Schunck (I) • 1868–70 James Prescott Joule (II) • 1870–72 Edward William Binney (II) • 1872–74 James Prescott Joule (III) • 1874–76 Dr Henry Edward Schunck (II) • 1876–78 Edward William Binney (III) • 1878–80 James Prescott Joule (IV) • 1880–82 Edward William Binney (IV) • 1882–84 Sir Henry Enfield Roscoe • 1884–86 William Crawford Williamson • 1886–87 Robert Dukinfield Darbishire • 1887–88 Balfour Stewart • 1888–90 Osborne Reynolds • 1890–92 Dr Henry Edward Schunck (III) • 1892–94 Prof. Sir Arthur Schuster • 1894–96 Henry Wilde • 1896–97 Dr Henry Edward Schunck (IV) • 1897–99 James Cosmo Melvill • 1899–1901 Prof. Sir Horace Lamb • 1901–03 Charles Bailey • 1903–05 Prof. Sir William Boyd Dawkins • 1905–07 Sir William Henry Bailey • 1907–09 Prof. Harold Baily Dixon (I) • 1909–11 Francis Jones • 1911–13 Prof. Frederick Ernest Weiss • 1913–15 Francis Nicholson • 1915–17 Prof. Sydney John Hickson • 1917–19 William Thomson • 1919 Prof. Sir Grafton Elliot Smith • 1919–21 Prof. Sir Henry Alexander Miers • 1921–23 Thomas Alfred Coward • 1923–25 Prof. Harold Baily Dixon (II) • 1925 Rev. Aloysius Laurence Cortie • 1925–27 Herbert Levinstein • 1927–29 Prof. Sir William Lawrence Bragg • 1929–31 Charles Edmond Stromeyer • 1931–33 Prof. Bernard Mouat Jones • 1933–35 John Allan • 1935–37 Prof. Reginald William James • 1937–39 Robert Henry Clayton • 1939–40 Prof. Douglas Rayner Hartree • 1940–44 Prof. Herbert John Fleure • 1944–46 Prof. Michael Polanyi • 1946–48 Prof. Thomas Bertram Lonsdale Webster • 1949–50 Dr Eric John Francis James • 1950–52 Horace Hayhurst (I) • 1952–54 Prof. Sir Geoffrey Jefferson • 1954–56 Sir Peter Percy F. R. Venables • 1956–58 Dr F. C. Toy • 1958–60 C. E. Young • 1960–62 Prof. Henry Solomon Lipson (I) • 1962–64 Prof. Leonard Cohen • 1964–66 Margaret Pilkington • 1966–67 Horace Hayhurst (II) • 1967–69 Brian Rodgers • 1969–71 Dr George N. Burkhardt • 1971–73 Dr George James Kynch • 1973–75 Dr Edward Noah Abrahart • 1975–77 Anthony Edmund Rivers Goulty • 1977–79 Prof. Henry Solomon Lipson (II) • 1979–81 Harry M. Fairhurst • 1981–83 David G. Wilson • 1983–85 Dr Lionel J. R. Postle • 1985–87 Prof. Sir Netar P. Mallick (I) • 1987–89 Dr Brian S. H. Rarity • 1989–91 Philip G. Livesey • 1991–93 Prof. Donald Stephen Lowell Cardwell • 1993–95 Dr Edward Fletcher Cass • 1995–97 Prof. Alexander Donnachie • 1997–99 Dianne Wilson • 1999–2001 Iain E. Gillespie • 2001–03 Angus G. D. Yeaman • 2003–05 Keith D. Buckley • 2005–07 Vivienne Blackburn • 2007–09 Mary, Lady Mallick • 2009–11 David J. Higginson • 2011–14 Prof. Kenneth M. Letherman • 2014–16 Prof. Sir Netar P. Mallick (II) • 2016–18 Dr Diana M. Leitch • 2018–21 Dr Susan R. Hilton • 2021–23 Ian Cameron • 2023–present Peter Wright

Secretaries

• 1781–85 George Bew • 1781–88 Thomas Henry • 1785–87 Rev.Thomas Barnes • 1787–92 Dr John Ferriar • 1789–91 James Watt Jnr • 1791–93 William Simmons • 1792–93 Thomas Henry Jnr • 1793–94 Samuel Harvey • 1793–96 Dr Samuel Argent Bardsley • 1794–98 Dr Edward Holme • 1797–1800 William Henry • 1798–1806 Dr John Hull • 1800–09 John Dalton • 1807–16 Rev. William Johns • 1809–10 Dr William Winstanley • 1810–20 John Atkinson Ransome • 1817–22 Thomas Henry Robinson • 1821–42 Peter Clare • 1822–37 Rev. John James Tayler • 1838–44 Joseph Atkinson Ransome • 1843–48 John Davies • 1844–46 John Holt Stanway • 1846–50 James Prescott Joule • 1848–52 Edward William Binney • 1851–55 Rev. Henry Halford Jones • 1852–57 Dr Robert Angus Smith • 1855–61 Dr Henry Edward Schunck • 1857–60 Prof. Richard Copley Christie • 1860–74 Sir Henry Enfield Roscoe • 1861–85 Joseph Baxendell • 1874–84 Prof. Osborne Reynolds • 1884–86 James Thomson Bottomley • 1885–88 Prof. Sir Arthur Schuster • 1886–96 Frederick James Faraday • 1888–1900 Reginald Felix Gwyther • 1896–1906 Francis Jones • 1900–01 Sir Alfred William Flux • 1901–05 Charles H. Lees • 1905–08 Prof. Frederick William Gamble • 1906–19 R. L. Taylor • 1908–09 C. Gordon Hewitt • 1909–20 Henry George Albert Hickling • 1919–22 Hubert Frank Coward • 1920–22 Prof. Tom Hatherley Pear • 1991–95 Charles J. E. Kempster • 1991–94 Mary, Lady Mallick • 1995–96 Susan C. Diggines • 1997–2001 Dr Ronald E. Catlow • 2001–04 Prof. Alexander Donnachie • 2001–02 Jean M. Thomson • 2004–05 John J. Moscrop • 2005–07 Jane F. Hamilton • 2005–08 Patricia M. Verdin • 2012–16 John Spencer Buckley • 2014–16 David Astbury • 2016–20 Peter G. Hilton • 2020–21 Dr Robert Stansfield-Cudworth • 2021–22 Dr F. Peter Fenn • 2022–present Niall Power

Treasurers

• 1783–89 Isaac Moss • 1790–91 Thomas Maxwell • 1791–95 Benjamin Arthur Heywood • 1796–1814 Nathaniel Heywood • 1815–50 Sir Benjamin Heywood, Bt • 1851–54 George Wareing Ormerod • 1855–62 Henry Mere Ormerod • 1863–68 Robert Worthington • 1868–73 Thomas Carrick • 1873–76 Samuel Broughton • 1877–95 Charles Bailey • 1896–1901 John Jackson Ashworth • 1901–02 Charles Bailey • 1902–10 Arthur McDougall • 1910–21 W. Henry Todd • 1921–22 Robert Henry Clayton • 2011–13 Michael N. G. Evans • 2013–16 David S. Brown • 2014–15 David Costley-Wood • 2016–21 Greg Mauchline • 2016–22 Trevor Rees • 2022–present Christine Mbarga