text: During the next decade, the new German Empire was rapidly eclipsing Britain as the centre of Europe's chemical industry. By the 1890s, Germany had a near-monopoly on the business and Perkin was compelled to sell off his holdings and retire.
  Death
  Perkin died in 1907 of pneumonia and other complications resulting from a burst appendix. He is buried in the grounds of Christchurch, Harrow, Middlesex. His will was proved on 28 August 1907 at £86,231 4s. 11d. (roughly equivalent to £ in ).
  Family
  Perkin married Jemima Harriet, the daughter of John Lissett, in 1859, which resulted in two sons, (William Henry Perkin Jr. and Arthur George Perkin). Perkin's second marriage was in 1866, to Alexandrine Caroline, daughter of Helman Mollwo. They had one son (Frederick Mollwo Perkin) and four daughters. All three sons became chemists.
  Honours, awards and commemorations
  Perkin received many honours in his lifetime. In June 1866, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1879, received their Royal Medal and, in 1889, their Davy Medal. He was knighted in 1906, and in the same year was awarded the first Perkin Medal, established to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of his discovery of mauveine. Today, the Perkin Medal is widely acknowledged as the highest honour in the U.S. industrial chemistry and has been awarded annually by the American section of the Society of Chemical Industry. He was President of the Society of Chemical Industry from 1884-85.