Arthur Duckham

Who was Arthur Duckham?

Sir Arthur McDougall Duckham GBE, KCB was one of the founders of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, and its first President.

Duckham was born in Blackheath, London. He became a trainee gas engineer, while also taking evening classes at King's College, London, and was appointed assistant superintendent of a London gasworks. Along with Harold Woodall he formed a company Woodall-Duckham which developed the continuous vertical retort for manufacturing gas from coal. He married Maud Peppercorn, daughter of Arthur Douglas Peppercorn and they had three children.

During the First World War he was involved in the supply of coal-derived chemicals for use in the manufacture of explosives, becoming Deputy Controller of Munitions Supply in 1915. He performed a number of other executive and advisor roles, notably Chairman of the Advisory Committee, Ministry of Munitions, which resulted in the him being knighted with the Order of the Bath. He also received the Légion d'honneur.

After the war his business flourished, expanding into other areas of chemical engineering.