George Field

Who was George Field?

George Field, was an English chemist. He was born in or about 1777 at Berkhampstead, Hertfordshire, of a family long settled in that town, and was educated at St. Peter's school there. When about eighteen years of age he came to London to seek a profession. He thought he saw an opening in the careful application of chemistry to pigments and dyes. War on the continent, by stopping the supply of madder from Holland, threatened to impede his progress. This obstacle, however, led him to consider the nature of its cultivation, and with a well-devised project he waited on Sir Joseph Banks for his advice, and, as he hoped, his co-operation. Sir Joseph, after unsuccessfully attempting to cultivate madder in Essex, had made up his mind that it could not be done in England.