Roscoe, Sir Henry Enfield 1833-1915
English chemist

Born in London, the grandson of the English historian William Roscoe (1783-1831), he was educated at University College London and the University of Heidelberg where, with Robert Bunsen, he carried out research on quantitative photochemistry. In 1857 he was appointed Professor of Chemistry at Owens College, Manchester. He encouraged links with industry and was energetic in promoting lectures on science for the general public. He was Liberal MP for South Manchester from 1885 to 1895 and Vice-Chancellor of London University from 1896 to 1902. In 1865 he isolated vanadium from copper ores in the Cheshire mines. Previously, vanadium had only been found in very small quantities and its properties were imperfectly known. Roscoe showed that it belongs to the same family as phosphorus and arsenic. He was also the author of influential textbooks. He was elected FRS in 1863 and knighted in 1884. He became president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1887, and a privy councillor in 1909.