George Gore (22 January 1826 – 20 December 1908) was an English

electrochemist Electrochemistry is the branch of physical chemistry concerned with the relationship between electrical potential difference, as a measurable and quantitative phenomenon, and identifiable chemical change, with the potential difference as an outco ...

. The invention of the

safety match A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...

has been attributed to his research with

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ear ...

Life

Born at

Blackfriars, Bristol Blackfriars, Bristol was a Dominican priory in Broadmead, Bristol, England. It was founded by Maurice de Gaunt in 1227 or 1228. Llywelyn ap Dafydd, son of Dafydd ap Gruffydd, the last native Prince of Wales, was buried in the cemetery of the prio ...

on 22 January 1826, he was son of George Gore, a

cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * Cooper (video game character), in ...

in the city. He was educated at a small private school, and at twelve became an errand boy. At 17 he was apprenticed to a cooper, following the trade for four years. In 1851 Gore moved to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, working first as timekeeper at the

Soho Foundry Soho Foundry is a factory created in 1775 by Matthew Boulton and James Watt and their sons Matthew Robinson Boulton and James Watt Jr. at Smethwick, West Midlands, England (), for the manufacture of steam engines. Now owned by Avery Weigh-Tr ...

, and then as a practitioner in medical

galvanism Galvanism is a term invented by the late 18th-century physicist and chemist Alessandro Volta to refer to the generation of electric current by chemical action. The term also came to refer to the discoveries of its namesake, Luigi Galvani, specif ...

, He subsequently became a chemist to a

factory; from 1870 to 1880, was lecturer in physics and chemistry at

King Edward's School, Birmingham King Edward's School (KES) is an independent day school for boys in the British public school tradition, located in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Founded by King Edward VI in 1552, it is part of the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Bir ...

; and finally, from 1880 onwards, was head of the Institute of Scientific Research, Easy Row, Birmingham, which he ran, and where he resided for the remainder of his life. In 1865 Gore was elected

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

as the discoverer of the amorphous allotrope of

antimony Antimony is a chemical element with the symbol Sb (from la, stibium) and atomic number 51. A lustrous gray metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (Sb2S3). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient t ...

and electrolytic sounds, and for researches in electro-chemistry. In Birmingham, manufacturers used new methods which he suggested for electroplating. The

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

made him hon. LL.D. in 1877, and in 1891 he was allotted a

civil list pension Pensions in the United Kingdom, whereby United Kingdom tax payers have some of their wages deducted to save for retirement, can be categorised into three major divisions - state, occupational and personal pensions. The state pension is based on ...

. Gore died at Birmingham on 20 December 1908, and was buried there at

Warstone Lane cemetery Warstone Lane Cemetery, (), also called Brookfields Cemetery, Church of England Cemetery, or Mint Cemetery (from the adjacent Birmingham Mint), is a cemetery dating from 1847 in Birmingham, England. It is one of two cemeteries in the city's J ...

Works

Between 1853 and 1865 Gore published in the ''

Philosophical Magazine The ''Philosophical Magazine'' is one of the oldest scientific journals published in English. It was established by Alexander Tilloch in 1798;John Burnett"Tilloch, Alexander (1759–1825)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford Univer ...

'', ''Pharmaceutical Journal'', ''

Journal of the Chemical Society The ''Journal of the Chemical Society'' was a scientific journal established by the Chemical Society in 1849 as the ''Quarterly Journal of the Chemical Society''. The first editor was Edmund Ronalds. The journal underwent several renamings, spli ...

'', and elsewhere 30 research papers in chemistry and electro-metallurgy. Three dealing with the properties of electro-deposited antimony were published in the ''

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society'' is a scientific journal published by the Royal Society. In its earliest days, it was a private venture of the Royal Society's secretary. It was established in 1665, making it the first journa ...

''. Other major research related to the properties of liquid carbonic acid and hydrofluoric acid. Gore was author of three technical treatises: *''The Art of Electro-metallurgy'' (1877; 5th edit. 1891); *''The Art of Scientific Discovery'' (1878); *''The Electro-lytic Separation and Refining of Metals'' (1890). He wrote also ''The Scientific Basis of National Progress'' (1882) and ''The Scientific Basis of Morality'' (1899), based on strong materialistic views.

Family

George married in 1849 Hannah, daughter of Thomas Owen, a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

minister; they had issue one son and one daughter. His wife predeceased him in 1907. By his will he directed that his residuary estate, about £5000 should be divided equally between the Royal Society of London and the

Royal Institution of Great Britain The Royal Institution of Great Britain (often the Royal Institution, Ri or RI) is an organisation for scientific education and research, based in the City of Westminster. It was founded in 1799 by the leading British scientists of the age, inc ...

, to be applied in "assisting original scientific discovery". His daughter, Alice Augusta Gore Fysh, was granted in 1911 a civil list pension of £50.

Notes

;Attribution

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gore, George 1826 births 1908 deaths 19th-century British chemists Fellows of the Royal Society Scientists from Bristol