While in Jamaica, he was a partner in the firm of Dick and Milligan, probably slave factors who bought slaves from arriving ships and sold them on to plantation owners on the island. Milligan was a wealthy West India merchant and shipowner, having previously managed his family's Jamaica sugar plantations. Millikan’s original experiment or any modified version, such as the following, is called the oil-drop experiment. His deeds do not endear themselves to modern sensibilities. In 1997, it was re-erected in its present position. Outside the Museum of London Docklands, where our group meets, is a statue of Robert Milligan, a merchant who was the driving force behind the creation of the West India Docks. When slavery was abolished in Jamaica in the 1830s, the man who then owned Milligan’s plantations received over £10,000 in compensation. As the 18th century ended, London’s West India merchants were increasingly concerned about the time taken to load and unload ships on the river and the massive pilferage taking place. …oil-drop experiment, he produced microscopic oil droplets and observed them falling in the space between two electrically charged plates. We know little of Milligan’s character. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. A lively and informative new podcast for kids that the whole family will enjoy! But in 1809 he died, and was buried in Hampstead churchyard beneath a tombstone bearing a very luke-warm epitaph from his family. Public Monuments and Sculpture Association, A Picturesque Tour of the Island of Jamaica, on Wikisource, Exhibition: Lansbury Micro Museum – New Horizons 1950s – 1980s, Prittlewell Burial Site – visiting speaker Ian Blair, Plastics in the Lea Valley – visiting speaker Carolyn Clark, East & West London: Creation of the social divide by Anne Tickell, Emigration to New Zealand in the 19th Century by Ian McBrayne. The statue on West India Quay was put up in 1813 by Milligan’s fellow directors in the West India Dock Company, with a plaque inscribed with fulsome praise for his role in the docks. The Society survives today as a charitable institution, the West India Committee, but then it was a key focus for opposition to plans to abolish the slave trade. In 1779 he left Jamaica to live in London, and two years later married a Scottish woman called Jean Dunbar. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Millikan knew the weight of the droplets from their rate of fall when…, …Millikan began a series of experiments to determine the electric charge carried by a single electron. Robert Millikan, American physicist honored with the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1923 for his study of the elementary electronic charge and the photoelectric effect. Source: A Picturesque Tour of the Island of Jamaica, on Wikisource. Source: The Underground Map (CC BY-SA 2.0). The siting of the statue gives rise to some embarrassment because of Milligan’s ownership of slaves on his plantations in Jamaica. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/science/Millikan-oil-drop-experiment, PhysicsLAB - Millikan's Oil Drop Experiment, Julian Rubin - Millikan Oil-Drop Experiment, SFSU Physics andAstronomy Department - The Millikan Oil-drop Experiment. Robert Milligan may refer to: . Corrections? Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. Some of the droplets became charged and could be suspended by a delicate adjustment of the electric field. By adjusting the potential difference, or voltage, between the metal plates, the speed of the droplet’s motion can be increased or decreased; when the amount of upward electric force equals the known downward gravitational force, the charged droplet remains stationary. It was made by the noted sculptor Richard Westmacott. Ian has been delving deeper into Milligan’s life, and on Monday he shared his findings with us. Learn how your comment data is processed. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Milligan and the Society also promoted the Parliamentary Bill which enabled the creation of the West India Docks. He is also known for his famous oil-drop experiments that led to his Nobel-winning discoveries. When the space between the metal plates is ionized by radiation (e.g., X-rays), electrons from the air attach themselves to the falling oil droplets, causing them to acquire a negative charge. He … It is possible he was brought up by relatives in Jamaica, more likely that he went there as a young man around 1768. Born in 1746, Robert Milligan was a noted West Indian merchant, slaveholder and founder of London’s global trade hub, West India Docks. ( Log Out /  By the late 1780s, Milligan was very active in the London-based Society of West India Planters and Merchants. He is recorded as the father of two children by a mixed-race woman called Mary Slaughter. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. In consultation with East End magistrate Patrick Colquhoun, Milligan and the Society were instrumental in establishing the Thames River Police, the country’s first recognised police force and now Thames Division of the Metropolitan Police. Change ). By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Outside the Museum of London Docklands, where our group meets, is a statue of Robert Milligan, a merchant who was the driving force behind the creation of the West India Docks. Born in 1746 Robert Milligan was a Scottish merchant and slave owner as well as a driving force in the construction in the building of London’s West India Docks. The results suggested that the charge on the droplets is a multiple of the elementary electric charge, but the experiment…. 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