Sir John Conroy, 3rd Baronet, FRS (16 August 1845 – 15 December 1900) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

analytical chemist. Conroy was born in

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

, west

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, the son of Sir Edward Conroy, 2nd Baronet (1809–1869) and Lady Alicia Conroy. He was descended from the

Ó Maolconaire Ó Maolchonaire, more properly Ó Maol Chonaire, sometimes Ó Mhaoilchonaire, Ó Maolconaire, etc., was the surname of a family of professional poets and historians in medieval Ireland. Traditionally it would have been spelled without the 'h', but ...

family of

Elphin Elphin may refer to: Places Canada * Elphin, Ontario, a hamlet in North Sherbrooke, Lanark County Ireland * Elphin, County Roscommon, Ireland * Diocese of Elphin, a diocese in Ireland * Roman Catholic Diocese of Elphin Scotland * Elphin, Highl ...

County Roscommon "Steadfast Irish heart" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Roscommon.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Connacht , subdi ...

. The family had been the hereditary

Ollam An or ollamh (; anglicised as ollave or ollav), plural ollomain, in early Irish literature, is a member of the highest rank of filí. The term is used to refer to the highest member of any group; thus an ''ollam brithem'' would be the highest ...

hs to the O'Connor

Kings of Connacht The Kings of Connacht were rulers of the ''cóiced'' (variously translated as portion, fifth, province) of Connacht, which lies west of the River Shannon, Ireland. However, the name only became applied to it in the early medieval era, being named ...

. He was descended from Maoilin Ó Maolchonaire who was the last recognised Chief of the Sept.Edmund Curtis, 'The O'Maolchonaire Family: Unpublished Letters from Sir Edward Conry, Bart., to H.F. Hoare, Esq., 1864' in Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society, Vol 19, No. 3/4, (1941) He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and then

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

, also the college of his father, where he read

Natural Science Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

, gaining a first class degree in 1868. His tutor was the

chemical kinetics Chemical kinetics, also known as reaction kinetics, is the branch of physical chemistry that is concerned with understanding the rates of chemical reactions. It is to be contrasted with chemical thermodynamics, which deals with the direction in wh ...

pioneer

Augustus George Vernon Harcourt Augustus George Vernon Harcourt FRS (24 December 1834 – 23 August 1919) was an English chemist who spent his career at Oxford University. He was one of the first scientists to do quantitative work in the field of chemical kinetics. His uncle, ...

FRS. He lived mostly with his mother at

Arborfield Arborfield is a village on the A327 road in Berkshire about south-east of Reading, about west of Wokingham. It lies in the civil parish of Arborfield and Newland in the Borough of Wokingham, about west of its sister village of Arborfield C ...

Grange in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

until 1880. His scientific interests were in analytical chemistry, especially optical

measurement Measurement is the quantification of attributes of an object or event, which can be used to compare with other objects or events. In other words, measurement is a process of determining how large or small a physical quantity is as compared ...

s. He worked mainly in a laboratory at Christ Church in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. He had teaching posts at Keble College (1880–90), and Balliol College and

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

(1886–1900). He worked at the Balliol-Trinity Laboratories with Sir Harold Hartley and others. In 1890, he became a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of Balliol College. In 1891, he was elected a

of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

. Conroy's religious leanings were High Church and he was involved with the

English Church Union The Church Union is an Anglo-Catholic advocacy group within the Church of England. The organisation was founded as the Church of England Protection Society on 12 May 1859 to challenge the authority of the English civil courts to determine questio ...

. From 1897, he was treasurer of the

Radcliffe Infirmary The Radcliffe Infirmary was a hospital in central north Oxford, England, located at the southern end of Woodstock Road on the western side, backing onto Walton Street. History The initial proposals to build a hospital in Oxford were put forw ...

in Oxford. Conroy never married and died in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. His baronetcy became extinct as a result.

References

1845 births 1900 deaths People from Kensington People educated at Eton College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Fellows of Balliol College, Oxford English physical chemists Analytical chemists Conroy, John, 3rd Baronet Fellows of the Royal Society {{UK-chemist-stub