Portrait of William Gregor

People/scientist, geologist

William Gregor

William Gregor (1761–1817), scientist, geologist, from United Kingdom. Linked to titanium minerals.

The lucky break

In 1791 a black sand from the Manaccan valley in Cornwall was sent to him for analysis. He showed it held an unknown metal, later named titanium by Klaproth.1,2

The downfall

Died of consumption at Creed rectory in 1817.1,2

Legacy

In 1797 Klaproth, who had named the metal, acknowledged that the discovery belonged solely to Gregor. The mineral is sometimes called gregorite.1,2

Story cards

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Where next

Mines

An example ofPanzhihuaGregor found titanium in 1791. Panzhihua in China yields vanadium, titanium and iron ore.1

Places

DiscoveredCornwall and West Devon Mining LandscapeIn 1791 black sand from Cornwall's Manaccan valley held a new metal, later named titanium.1

Sources

  1. Gregor, William Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900 vol 23 (public-domain text on Wikisource), article by G. C. Boase
  2. File pages and licence metadata for portraits (via the Commons imageinfo/extmetadata API) Wikimedia Commons

Pictures on this page: Portrait of the Reverend William Gregor (1761–1817).jpg, John Hoppner, R.A. (Public domain).

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Pictures: Timna in de Negevwoestijn; rotspartij "de zuilen van Salomo", Poll, Willem van de / Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Dolcoath tin mine, Camborne, Cornwall: miners in a mine shaft, standing on wooden platforms connected by ladders. Photograph by J. C. Burrow, 1890/1910., Burrow, J. C., 1852-1914 (Public Domain Mark 1.0).