Gregor, William (1762–1817)

English scientist and clergyman. He is chiefly remembered for his discovery of titanium.

In a Cornish valley in 1789 he found a black sand, now known as ilmenite, that had peculiar magnetic properties. Treating this with sulphuric acid Gregor obtained a yellow solution which, when heated with powdered charcoal, yielded a slag that contained titanium. Gregor did not isolate the pure metal, succumbing to tuberculosis before he could carry his investigations further.

Born in Cornwall, he was educated at Bristol and Cambridge universities, where he became a fellow of St John's and entered holy orders. He was always an enthusiastic amateur scientist, and, though he preferred to settle in a remote village of Cornwall, he soon acquired a worldwide reputation as a metallurgical chemist through his analysis of such complex substances as topaz, uranium, mica, and wavellite.