Background
He was born at the Trewarthenick Estate in Cornwall, the son of Francis Gregor and Mary Copley and the brother of Francis Gregor, Member of Parliament for Cornwall.
He was born at the Trewarthenick Estate in Cornwall, the son of Francis Gregor and Mary Copley and the brother of Francis Gregor, Member of Parliament for Cornwall.
He was educated at Bristol Grammar School, where he became interested in chemistry, then after two years with a private tutor entered Street John"s College, Cambridge, graduating Bachelor in 1784 and Master of Arts in 1787.
He became vicar of Street Mary"s Church Diptford near Totnes, Devon. After a brief interval at Bratton Clovelly, William and his family moved permanently to the rectory of Creed in Cornwall. Here, he began a remarkably accurate chemical analysis of Cornish minerals.
In 1791, while studying ilmenite from the Manaccan valley, he isolated the calx of an unknown metal which he named manaccanite.
Later in 1791, Martin Heinrich Klaproth discovered what is now known as titanium in the mineral rutile. Gregor was credited with the discovery, but the element kept the name chosen by Klaproth.
Gregor later found titanium in corundum from Tibet, and in a tourmaline from a local tin mine. Titanium is now used for many things.
Titanium is a transition metal with the atomic number of 22 and atomic mass 47.867.
Never letting his scientific work interfere with his pastoral duties, he was also a distinguished landscape painter, etcher and musician. He died of tuberculosis on 11 June 1817 and was buried in a nearby churchyard.
Gregor was an original member of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall in 1814.