John George Children (1777-1852), British chemist. Children was born in Kent, the onl;y son of George Children, and was educated at Eton and at Queen's College, Cambridge. When his wife of two years died, Children decided to travel widely studying mechanics and mineralogy, but his main interest was electrochemistry. He made numerous experiments on creating voltaic piles for chemical research and in 1813 built the largest galvanic cell yet constructed. In 1818 his father becamne bankrupt and John looked for steady work. He found a position in the department of antiquities at the British Musuem, later heading the department of zoology. he wrote numerous papers on varous subjects, including a methiod for extracting silver from ores without the use of mercuy.