Presented by Professor Andy Meharg, Queen's University Belfast, this is a popular science lecture on how the life of the poet and designer, William Morris, was linked to one of the most notorious poisons, Arsenic. Morris, a proto-environmentalist, was made immensely rich through shares in the world’s largest arsenic mine. The Mine in question was portrayed as ‘hell’ in a Trollope novel. He used the arsenic from that mine in his interior decor designs, including his famous wallpapers, which introduced the poison into the home. This lecture illustrates how common arsenic poisoning was found in the Victorian home with relevant 19th century artefacts.
