Frederick Settle Barff (6 October 1822 – 11 August 1886) was an English chemist, ecclesiastical decorator, and stained glass manufacturer, much interested in theology.
He is best known as a chemist, having invented several important preservation methods for a range of materials, including iron, stone, wood and foodstuffs. Several of his stained glass windows still survive throughout Ireland and the north of England.
A portrait photograph of Barff appears in The History of St Stanislaus College, Beaumont, published in 1911.
Early life
Born in Hackney, London, the son of a doctor, Barff was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he earned a BA in 1844, followed by an MA in 1847. After graduating, he was ordained at Peterborough and started work as an Anglican curate in Hull. He also served as curate of St Nicholas' Church, Leicester, before, in 1852, converting to Catholicism.
Ecclesiastical decorator
By the mid-1850s, Barff established Mssrs. F.S. Barff & Co., an ecclesiastical decorating company, in Liverpool.
North England
He supervised the interior decoration of St Patrick's Church, Liverpool and painted the frescoes at Stonyhurst College. The firm also decorated the churches of St Wilfrid's, Preston and St Mary's, Chelsea.<ref group=notes>The Tablet, 13 October 1854(or 1855), 647 quoted in Irish Architectural Archive</ref>
Ireland
By 1858 Barff's company had moved to Dublin, possibly influenced by his contemporary and fellow convert John Hungerford Pollen, where most of the work was undertaken for Catholic churches.
Works executed in Ireland:
During this period, Barff gave a lecture on Decorative Art to the Dublin Mechanics Institute and successfully patented several processes associated with his work, one of which won honourable mention during the 1862 International Exhibition.
Patents
The company continued to operate until 1864, when it went bankrupt, at which time Barff returned to England.
Chemist
Teaching
On his return, Barff became a teacher at Beaumont College, a Jesuit school in Windsor, before moving to University College, London as assistant professor of chemistry. He later became professor of chemistry at the Royal Academy of Arts for eight years and also at the Catholic University College, Kensington, a position for which he was nominated by Cardinal Manning, as well as at the Beaumont College.
He was made a Fellow of the Chemical Society in 1867.
Barff acted as Examiner in Chemistry for the Natural science tripos at Cambridge University, a role he was first awarded in 1873.
Society of Arts lectures
Barff delivered three series of Cantor Lectures to the Society of Arts: in 1870, on artistic colours and pigments; in 1872, on the treatment of carbon compounds for heating and lighting purposes; and a further series on Silicates, Silicides, Glass, and Glass Painting.
He also delivered the juvenile lectures, for 1878, on the subject of Coal and its Compounds.
Barff was awarded two Art Society's medals: one for a paper on Zinc White as Paint, and the Treatment of Iron for the Prevention of Corrosion and the other for his paper on A New Antiseptic Compound, the latter of which he presented to the society in March 1882.
Published works
An Introduction to scientific chemistry, 1869. An introduction to scientific chemistry: designed for the use of schools, 1869 Elementary chemistry, 1875.
Society of Arts publications
On silicates, silicides, glass and glass painting, 1872
Carbon & certain compounds of carbon, treated principally in reference to heating and illuminating purposes 1874 The treatment of iron for the prevention of corrosion, 1877
Design and inventions
Barff is most widely remembered for his invention of a method of rust proofing cast iron, named after him. The method used superheated steamPopular Science Jul 1886 Vol. 29, No. 19, p.393. Bonnier Corporation. ISSN 0161-7370. Retrieved June 2011 to form a layer of tri-iron tetroxide(Fe3O4), which proved much cheaper than traditional galvanisation. The method was subsequently improved by George Bower, after which the process became known as the Bower–Barff process. The Bower-Barff Rustless Iron Co. had works in Southwark and New York, the latter supplying cast-iron for many of the city's landmark buildings.