Background
He was born in Runcorn, the youngest of the four children of Harry and Mary Baker (née Eccles). His father was himself a chemist, having studied under Sir Henry Enfield Roscoe and Robert Bunsen, amongst others
organic chemist Quaker volunteer
He was born in Runcorn, the youngest of the four children of Harry and Mary Baker (née Eccles). His father was himself a chemist, having studied under Sir Henry Enfield Roscoe and Robert Bunsen, amongst others
Wilson entered Victoria University of Manchester at the age of 16, and (having spent some time in France as a Quaker volunteer during the First World War) graduated top of the honours class in 1921. With Arthur Lapworth, before doing a Doctor of Philosophy with Sir Robert Robinson on the synthesis of isoflavones.
He then undertook a Master of Science This was awarded in 1924. Late that year, he was appointed to the Alfred Capper Pass Chair of Organic Chemistry at the University of Bristol, where he remained until his retirement in 1965.
In his memory, a Wilson Baker lecture is hosted by the chemistry department in Bristol every year.
Wilson Baker"s early research interests were in plant pigments, like Robinson"s, but he also worked on the chemistry of Penicillin during the war, and had interest in non-benzenoid aromatic hydrocarbons. The Baker-Venkataraman rearrangement is partly named after him.
A committed Quaker, during his time in Oxford, he became concerned with efforts being made for famine relief in Greece during World World War World War II
Royal Society]
He was a member of the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief which applied for funding under the War Charities Acting 1940, and which later developed into the charity Oxfam.
Married Juliet Elizabeth Glaisyer in 1927.