Lowndes , John , 1892-1976 , chemist

Lowndes was born in Staffordshire, 1892. His first job was as a Laboratory Assistant in the Department of Chemistry and Physics at Stafford Technical School. In 1909, he moved to Canada where he worked with Prof R B Macallum in the Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto. On the outbreak of war, he joined the 1st Canadian Expeditionary Force, after being taken prisoner at Ypres, 1915, he spent three years as a prisoner of war in Germay. After his release in 1918, he studied Chemistry in Delft, Holland, under Jan Boesekin. He married C A V Broydon. Lowndes was for some time Science Master at Rugeley Grammar School, Staffordshire, before taking up a position in 1921 as Research Assistant to Huia Onslow. In 1923, he was appointed Demonstrator in the Department of Chemistry at St Thomas's Hospital Medical School, subsequently becoming the Senior Lecturer in Chemistry. He retired in 1957.