University of Liverpool, University Archive, Hilditch papers: D43/11-17

Professor T.P. Hilditch, shown here after his retirement in 1951, held the Campbell Brown chair in Industrial Chemistry at Liverpool for 25 years, and carried on writing and researching right up until his death in 1965. A pioneer of Industrial Fat Chemistry, his legacy includes the Hilditch Memorial Lecture series at the Society of Chemical Industry. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1942 (the highest honor that can be given to a British scientist by his peers), and was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1952.

Among the additional material deposited here from the University Art Collections is a bundle of correspondence between Hilditch and his former student at Liverpool, Dr. F.D. Gunstone, written in 1965. These letters show the academic rigour he expected of himself and of his peers, even in his final years of writing; they also his warmth and willingness to help, which made him so well-loved by his students at the university.

These additional deposits also include material relating to his many awards, including his CBE; obituaries of Hilditch in many national and international scientific journals; and papers relating to the Hilditch Memorial Lectures, from their foundation in 1967 onwards.