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: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

analytical chemist Analytical chemistry studies and uses instruments and methods to separate, identify, and quantify matter. In practice, separation, identification or quantification may constitute the entire analysis or be combined with another method. Separa ...

. Conroy was born in

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around 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 by Kensingt ...

, west

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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

Ó Maolconaire Ó Maolchonaire, sometimes Ó Maoil Chonaire, sometimes Ó Mhaoil Chonaire, Ó Maolconaire, Uí Mhaoil Chonaire etc., was the surname of a family of professional poets and historians in medieval Ireland. Traditionally it would have been spelled wi ...

family of

Elphin Elphin may refer to: Places Canada * Elphin, Ontario, a hamlet in Lanark Highlands, Lanark County Ireland * Elphin, County Roscommon, a small town * Diocese of Elphin, a diocese * Roman Catholic Diocese of Elphin Scotland * Elphin, Highland, ...

County Roscommon County Roscommon () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the province of Connacht and the Northern and Western Region. It is the List of Irish counties by area, 11th largest Irish county by area and Li ...

. The family had been the hereditary

Ollam An or ollamh (; anglicised as ollave or ollav), plural ollomain, in early Irish literature, was a master in a particular trade or skill. Bard Generally, ''ollam'' referred to a professional poet or bard of literature and history, and a membe ...

hs to the

O'Conor The O'Conor dynasty (Middle Irish: ''Ó Conchobhair''; Modern ) are an Irish noble dynasty and formerly one of the most influential and distinguished royal dynasties in Ireland. The O'Conor family held the throne of the Kingdom of Connacht up ...

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 name ...

. 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 (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and then

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, also the college of his father, where he read

Natural Science Natural science or empirical 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 ...

, gaining a

first class degree The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

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 different from chemical thermodynamics, which deals with the direction in which a ...

pioneer Augustus George Vernon Harcourt FRS. He lived mostly with his mother at

Arborfield Arborfield is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Arborfield and Newland, in the Borough of Wokingham in Berkshire, England. It is about south-east of Reading, about west of Wokingham. It lies about west of the village o ...

Grange in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

until 1880. His scientific interests were in

analytical chemistry Analytical skill, Analytical chemistry studies and uses instruments and methods to Separation process, separate, identify, and Quantification (science), quantify matter. In practice, separation, identification or quantification may constitute t ...

, especially

optical Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultravio ...

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 to ...

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

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. He had teaching posts at

Keble College Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to ...

(1880–90), and

Balliol College Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and ar ...

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 title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

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 A ''high church'' is a Christian Church whose beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, Christian liturgy, liturgy, and Christian theology, theology emphasize "ritual, priestly authority, ndsacraments," and a standard liturgy. Although ...

and he was involved with the

English Church Union The Church Union is an Anglo-Catholic advocacy group within the Church of England. History 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 determi ...

. 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. Closed in 2007, after refurbishment the building was re-opened in October ...

in Oxford. Conroy never married and died in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. 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