- William Gregor
William Gregor (
25 December 1761 –11 June 1817 ) was the Britishclergyman andmineralogist who discovered the elemental metaltitanium .Life
Early years
He was born in
Trewarthenick ,Cornwall , the son of Francis Gregor and Mary Copley and the brother of Francis Gregor, MP for Cornwall [ [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=YdIKAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA504&lpg=PA504&dq=%22Francis+Gregor%22+mp&source=web&ots=qCtpi_fb9I&sig=uKpZEUI0JLuRZsKACBD5mWN2zok&hl=en Burke's "Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry 1847". on Googlebooks, (Accessed 20 March 2008)] ] . He was educated atBristol Grammar School , where he became interested inchemistry , then after two years with a private tutor enteredSt John's College, Cambridge from where he graduated BA in 1784 [He also received a MA in 1787 Source: "The Times", Monday, Jun 18, 1787; pg. 3; Issue 776; col C ] . He proceeded to the MA and was ordained in theChurch of England . He becamevicar of St Mary's ChurchDiptford [ [http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/DEV/Diptford/ Diptford on Genuki website] and [http://www.devon.gov.uk/localstudies/110250/1.html Devon Libraries Local History page on Diptford] (no mention of Gregor)] ] nearTotnes Devon . He married Charlotte Anne Gwatkin in 1790 and they had one daughter.Discovery of titanium
After a brief interval at
Bratton Clovelly , William and his family moved permanently to therectory of Creed inCornwall . Here, he began a remarkably accurate chemical analysis of Cornishmineral s. In 1791, while studyingilmenite from theManaccan valley, he isolated thecalx of an unknown metal which he named "manaccanite". Later in 1791,Martin Heinrich Klaproth discovered what is now known astitanium in the mineralrutile . Believing this to be a new discovery, he named it "Titanium" after theTitans ofGreek Mythology , eventually it was clarified that Gregor made the discovery first. Gregor was credited with the discovery, but the element kept the name chosen by Klaproth. Gregor later found titanium incorundum fromTibet , and in atourmaline from a local tin mine.Death and legacy
Gregor was an original member of the
Royal Geological Society of Cornwall in 1814.cite web|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/11451|title=Gregor, William (1761–1817), mineralogist and Church of England clergyman|last=Boase|first=G. C.|coauthors=McConnell, Anita|date=Oct 2005 |work=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online edition|publisher=Oxford University Press |accessdate=2008-05-21] Never letting his scientific work interfere with his pastoral duties, he was also a distinguished landscape painter, etcher and musician. He died oftuberculosis on 11 June 1817 and was buried in a nearby churchyard.References
ources
*"Oxford Dictionary of National Biography"
External links
* cite journal
last = Russell
first = Arthur
authorlink = Sir Arthur Edward Ian Montagu Russell, 6th Baronet
year = 1955
month = June
title = The Rev. WIlliam Gregor (1761-1817), discoverer of titanium
journal = The Mineralogical Magazine and Journal of the Mineralogical Society
volume = XXX
issue = 229
pages = pp.617–624
url = http://www.minersoc.org/pages/Archive-MM/Volume_30/30-229-617.pdf
accessdate = 2007-12-09
doi = 10.1180/minmag.1955.030.229.01
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