238 
CHAPTER XI. 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
The principal facts of the following biographical notice of 
"William West have been prepared by Mr. William Cheetham, of 
Horsforth. On the basis so prepared Mr. Richard Reynolds, of Leeds, 
has added some further information respecting Mr. West's connec- 
tion with the Chemical Society of London. 
William West, F.R.S. 
William West, F.R.S. , was born at Wandsworth, in Surrey, in 
1792, and in 1816 he settled in Leeds as a wholesale and retail 
chemist and druggist. From that time he devoted a large shaie of 
his time to tlie pursuit of chemical and other sciences, and became 
associated with many societies established for the promotion of such 
objects. He cultivated chemical analyses as a profession, and in 
connection with this enjoyed great public confidence, being often 
retained in legal cases as a scientific witness. Mr. West ultimately 
gave up business, continuing only his professional work, and in 
recognition of his attainments in chemical science he w^as elected a 
Fellow of the Royal Society in the year 1846. 
He was one of the earliest and most active of the members of 
the West Riding Geological and Polytechnic Society, and held the 
office of Vice-President. In 1819 he was one of the founders of the 
Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society, to which he contributed a 
large number of papers, and he was successively Honorary Secretary 
and a Vice-President. He held the office of President at the time 
of his death in 1851, which occurred at his residence HigMeld House, 
Hunslet. He was an original member of the Leeds Mechanics' Insti- 
tute, and one of its governing body. The Institute of Civil Engi- 
neers elected him an Associate in 1842, and awarded to him in 1846 
the Telford Silver Medal for his paper on " Water for Locomotive 
