William Robert Grove
Encyclopedia
Sir William Robert Grove PC QC
FRS (11 July 1811 – 1 August 1896) was a judge
and physical scientist. He anticipated the general theory of the conservation of energy
, and was a pioneer of fuel cell
technology.
in south Wales, Grove was the only child of John, a magistrate
and deputy lieutenant
of Glamorgan
, and his wife, Anne née Bevan.
His early education was in the hands of private tutors, before he attended Brasenose College, Oxford
to study classics
, though his scientific interests may have been cultivated by mathematician
Baden Powell
. Otherwise, his taste for science has no clear origin though his circle in Swansea was broadly educated. He graduated
in 1832.
In 1835 he was called to the bar by Lincoln's Inn
. In the same year, Grove joined the Royal Institution
and was a founder of the Swansea Literary and Philosophical Society, an organisation with which he maintained close links.
In 1829 at the Royal Institution Grove met Emma Maria Powles, and he married her in 1837. The couple embarked on a tour of the continent
for their honeymoon
. This sabbatical offered Groves an opportunity to pursue his scientific interests and resulted in his first scientific paper suggesting some novel constructions for electric cells
.
In 1839, Grove developed a novel form of electric cell, the Grove cell
, which used zinc
and platinum
electrode
s exposed to two acid
s and separated by a porous ceramic pot. Grove announced the latter development to the Académie des Sciences in Paris in 1839. In 1840 Grove invented the first incandescent electric light, which was later perfected by Thomas Edison
. Later that year he gave another account of his development at the British Association for the Advancement of Science
meeting in Birmingham
, where it aroused the interest of Michael Faraday
. On Faraday's invitation Grove presented his discoveries at the prestigious Royal Institution Friday Discourse on 13 March 1840.
Grove's presentation made his reputation, and he was soon proposed for Fellowship of the Royal Society
by such distinguished men as William Thomas Brande
, William Snow Harris
and Charles Wheatstone
. Grove also attracted the attention of John Peter Gassiot
, a relationship that resulted in Grove's becoming the first professor of experimental philosophy at the London Institution
in 1841. Grove's inaugural lecture in 1842 was the first announcement of what Grove called the correlation of physical forces, in modern terms, the conservation of energy
.
In 1842, Grove developed the first fuel cell
(which he called the gas voltaic battery), which produced electrical energy by combining hydrogen
and oxygen
, and described it using his correlation theory. In developing the cell and showing that steam
could be disassociated into oxygen and hydrogen, and the process reversed
, he was the first person to demonstrate the thermal dissociation of molecule
s into their constituent atom
s. The first demonstration of this effect, he gave privately to Faraday, Gassiot and Edward William Brayley
, his scientific editor. His work also led him to early insights into the nature of ionisation.
In the 1840s Grove also collaborated with Gassiot at the London Institution on photography
and the Daguerreotype
and calotype
processes. Inspired by his legal practice, he presciently observed:
In 1852 he discovered striae, dark bands that occur in electrical breakdown
, and investigated their character, presenting his work in an 1858 Bakerian lecture.
that was more famously put forward in Hermann von Helmholtz
' Über die Erhaltung der Kraft (On the Conservation of Force) published the following year. His 1846 Bakerian lecture
relied heavily on his theory.
James Prescott Joule
had been inspired to his investigations into the mechanical equivalent of heat
by comparing the mass
of coal
consumed in a steam engine
with the mass of zinc
consumed in a Grove battery in performing a common quantity of mechanical work. Grove was certainly familiar with William Thomson
's theoretical analysis of Joule's experimental results and Thomson's immature suggestions of conservation of energy. Thomson's public champion, Peter Guthrie Tait
was initially a supporter of Grove's ideas but later dismissed them with some coolness.
Though Groves's ideas were forerunners of the theory of the conservation of energy, they were qualitative, unlike the quantitative investigations of Joule or Julius Robert von Mayer
. His ideas also shaded into broader speculation, such as the nature of Olbers's paradox, which he may have discovered for himself rather than through a direct knowledge.
Grove also speculated that other forms of energy were yet to be discovered "as far certain as certain can be of any future event."
in 1840 Grove was a critic of the Society, deprecating its cronyism
and the de facto
rule of a few influential Council members. In 1843, he published an anonymous attack on the scientific establishment in Blackwood's Magazine
and called for reform. In 1846 Grove was elected to the Council of the Royal Society
, and was heavily involved in the campaign to modernise its charter, in addition to campaigning for the public funding of science.
A charter committee had already been established, and Grove joined it. Groves's fellow campaigners included Gassiot, Leonard Horner
and Edward Sabine
. Their principal objectives were for the number of new Fellows to be subject to an annual limit, and limitation of the power of nomination to the Council. The reformers' success in 1847 led to the resignation of several key conservatives and the establishment of Grove and his associates with domination of the Council. To celebrate, the reformers founded the Philosophical Club.
Though the Philosophical Club succeeded in ensuring that William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse
was appointed next President, they failed to get Grove appointed as Secretary. Grove continued to campaign for a single home for all the scientific institutions at Burlington House
.
. The bar provided him with the opportunity to combine his legal and scientific knowledge, in particular in patent law and in the unsuccessful defence of poison
er William Palmer
in 1856. He was especially involved in the photography
patent cases of Beard v. Egerton (1845–1849), on behalf of Egerton, and of Talbot v. Laroche
(1854). In the latter case Grove appeared for William Fox Talbot
in his unsuccessful attempt to assert his calotype
patent.
Grove served on a Royal Commission
on patent law and on the Metropolitan Commission of Sewers
.
In 1871 he was made judge of the Court of Common Pleas
, and was appointed to the Queen's Bench in 1880. He was to have presided at the Cornwall
and Devon
winter assizes
of 1884, which would have entailed him trying the notorious survival cannibalism case of R v. Dudley and Stephens. However, at the last minute he was substituted by Baron Huddleston, possibly because Huddleston was seen as more reliable in ensuring the guilty verdict that the judiciary required. Grove did sit as one of five judges on the final determination of the case in the Divisional Court of the Queen's Bench
.
Grove was a careful, painstaking and accurate judge, courageous and not afraid to assert an independent judicial opinion. However, he was fallible in patent cases, where he was prone to become over-interested in the technology in question and to be distracted by questioning the litigants as to potential improvements in their devices, even going so far as to suggest his own innovations. He retired from the bench in 1887. His portrait was painted by Helen Donald-Smith
in the 1890s.
in 1866. His daughter Anna married Herbert Augustus Hills (1837–1907) and was mother to Edmond Herbert Grove-Hills
("Colonel Rivers"), and John Waller Hills
Grove, his health perpetually troubled, died at home in London after a long illness. He is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery.
in 1840, and received their Royal Medal
in 1847. He was Vice-President of the Royal Institution
in 1844. Receiving a knighthood in 1872, he was given an honorary degree by Cambridge University
in 1879 and became Privy Councillor in 1887.
The lunar crater "Grove
" is named in his honor. The Grove Fuel Cell Symposium and Exhibition is organised by Elsevier
.
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
FRS (11 July 1811 – 1 August 1896) was a judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
and physical scientist. He anticipated the general theory of the conservation of energy
Conservation of energy
The nineteenth century law of conservation of energy is a law of physics. It states that the total amount of energy in an isolated system remains constant over time. The total energy is said to be conserved over time...
, and was a pioneer of fuel cell
Fuel cell
A fuel cell is a device that converts the chemical energy from a fuel into electricity through a chemical reaction with oxygen or another oxidizing agent. Hydrogen is the most common fuel, but hydrocarbons such as natural gas and alcohols like methanol are sometimes used...
technology.
Early life
Born in SwanseaSwansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
in south Wales, Grove was the only child of John, a magistrate
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
and deputy lieutenant
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
of Glamorgan
Glamorgan
Glamorgan or Glamorganshire is one of the thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It was originally an early medieval kingdom of varying boundaries known as Glywysing until taken over by the Normans as a lordship. Glamorgan is latterly represented by the three...
, and his wife, Anne née Bevan.
His early education was in the hands of private tutors, before he attended Brasenose College, Oxford
Brasenose College, Oxford
Brasenose College, originally Brazen Nose College , is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. As of 2006, it has an estimated financial endowment of £98m...
to study classics
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
, though his scientific interests may have been cultivated by mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
Baden Powell
Baden Powell (mathematician)
Baden Powell, MA, FRS, FRGS was an English mathematician and Church of England priest. He was also prominent as a liberal theologian who put forward advanced ideas about evolution. He held the Savilian Chair of Geometry at the University of Oxford from 1827 to 1860...
. Otherwise, his taste for science has no clear origin though his circle in Swansea was broadly educated. He graduated
Graduation
Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become Graduates. Before the graduation, candidates are referred to as Graduands. The date of graduation is often called degree day. The graduation itself is also...
in 1832.
In 1835 he was called to the bar by Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
. In the same year, Grove joined the Royal Institution
Royal Institution
The Royal Institution of Great Britain is an organization devoted to scientific education and research, based in London.-Overview:...
and was a founder of the Swansea Literary and Philosophical Society, an organisation with which he maintained close links.
Scientific work
Continent
A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...
for their honeymoon
Honeymoon
-History:One early reference to a honeymoon is in Deuteronomy 24:5 “When a man is newly wed, he need not go out on a military expedition, nor shall any public duty be imposed on him...
. This sabbatical offered Groves an opportunity to pursue his scientific interests and resulted in his first scientific paper suggesting some novel constructions for electric cells
Battery (electricity)
An electrical battery is one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Since the invention of the first battery in 1800 by Alessandro Volta and especially since the technically improved Daniell cell in 1836, batteries have become a common power...
.
In 1839, Grove developed a novel form of electric cell, the Grove cell
Grove cell
The Grove cell was an early electric primary cell named after its inventor, British chemist William Robert Grove, and consisted of a zinc anode in dilute sulfuric acid and a platinum cathode in concentrated nitric acid, the two separated by a porous ceramic pot.-Cell details:The Grove cell voltage...
, which used zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
and platinum
Platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...
electrode
Electrode
An electrode is an electrical conductor used to make contact with a nonmetallic part of a circuit...
s exposed to two acid
Acid
An acid is a substance which reacts with a base. Commonly, acids can be identified as tasting sour, reacting with metals such as calcium, and bases like sodium carbonate. Aqueous acids have a pH of less than 7, where an acid of lower pH is typically stronger, and turn blue litmus paper red...
s and separated by a porous ceramic pot. Grove announced the latter development to the Académie des Sciences in Paris in 1839. In 1840 Grove invented the first incandescent electric light, which was later perfected by Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
. Later that year he gave another account of his development at the British Association for the Advancement of Science
British Association for the Advancement of Science
frame|right|"The BA" logoThe British Association for the Advancement of Science or the British Science Association, formerly known as the BA, is a learned society with the object of promoting science, directing general attention to scientific matters, and facilitating interaction between...
meeting in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, where it aroused the interest of Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday, FRS was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry....
. On Faraday's invitation Grove presented his discoveries at the prestigious Royal Institution Friday Discourse on 13 March 1840.
Grove's presentation made his reputation, and he was soon proposed for Fellowship of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
by such distinguished men as William Thomas Brande
William Thomas Brande
William Thomas Brande FRS , English chemist.Brande was born in London, England. After leaving Westminster School, he was apprenticed, in 1802, to his brother, an apothecary, with the view of adopting the profession of medicine. However, Brande's bent was towards chemistry, a sound knowledge of...
, William Snow Harris
William Snow Harris
Sir William Snow Harris was an English physician and electrical researcher, nicknamed Thunder-and-Lightning Harris, and noted for his invention of a successful system of lightning conductors for ships...
and Charles Wheatstone
Charles Wheatstone
Sir Charles Wheatstone FRS , was an English scientist and inventor of many scientific breakthroughs of the Victorian era, including the English concertina, the stereoscope , and the Playfair cipher...
. Grove also attracted the attention of John Peter Gassiot
John Peter Gassiot
John Peter Gassiot FRS was an English businessman and amateur scientist and who was particularly associated with public demonstrations of electrical phenomena and the development of the Royal Society.-Life:...
, a relationship that resulted in Grove's becoming the first professor of experimental philosophy at the London Institution
London Institution
The London Institution was an educational institution founded in London in 1806...
in 1841. Grove's inaugural lecture in 1842 was the first announcement of what Grove called the correlation of physical forces, in modern terms, the conservation of energy
Conservation of energy
The nineteenth century law of conservation of energy is a law of physics. It states that the total amount of energy in an isolated system remains constant over time. The total energy is said to be conserved over time...
.
In 1842, Grove developed the first fuel cell
Fuel cell
A fuel cell is a device that converts the chemical energy from a fuel into electricity through a chemical reaction with oxygen or another oxidizing agent. Hydrogen is the most common fuel, but hydrocarbons such as natural gas and alcohols like methanol are sometimes used...
(which he called the gas voltaic battery), which produced electrical energy by combining hydrogen
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
and oxygen
Oxygen
Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
, and described it using his correlation theory. In developing the cell and showing that steam
Steam
Steam is the technical term for water vapor, the gaseous phase of water, which is formed when water boils. In common language it is often used to refer to the visible mist of water droplets formed as this water vapor condenses in the presence of cooler air...
could be disassociated into oxygen and hydrogen, and the process reversed
Reversible process (thermodynamics)
In thermodynamics, a reversible process, or reversible cycle if the process is cyclic, is a process that can be "reversed" by means of infinitesimal changes in some property of the system without loss or dissipation of energy. Due to these infinitesimal changes, the system is in thermodynamic...
, he was the first person to demonstrate the thermal dissociation of molecule
Molecule
A molecule is an electrically neutral group of at least two atoms held together by covalent chemical bonds. Molecules are distinguished from ions by their electrical charge...
s into their constituent atom
Atom
The atom is a basic unit of matter that consists of a dense central nucleus surrounded by a cloud of negatively charged electrons. The atomic nucleus contains a mix of positively charged protons and electrically neutral neutrons...
s. The first demonstration of this effect, he gave privately to Faraday, Gassiot and Edward William Brayley
Edward William Brayley
Edward William Brayley FRS was an English geographer, librarian, and science author.-Early life:Brayley was born in London, the son of Edward Wedlake Brayley, a notable antiquary and his wife Anne . His early schooling, in the company of his brothers Henry and Horatio was private and sheltered...
, his scientific editor. His work also led him to early insights into the nature of ionisation.
In the 1840s Grove also collaborated with Gassiot at the London Institution on photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
and the Daguerreotype
Daguerreotype
The daguerreotype was the first commercially successful photographic process. The image is a direct positive made in the camera on a silvered copper plate....
and calotype
Calotype
Calotype or talbotype is an early photographic process introduced in 1841 by William Henry Fox Talbot, using paper coated with silver iodide. The term calotype comes from the Greek for 'beautiful', and for 'impression'....
processes. Inspired by his legal practice, he presciently observed:
In 1852 he discovered striae, dark bands that occur in electrical breakdown
Electrical breakdown
The term electrical breakdown or electric breakdown has several similar but distinctly different meanings. For example, the term can apply to the failure of an electric circuit....
, and investigated their character, presenting his work in an 1858 Bakerian lecture.
On the Correlation of Physical Forces
In 1846, Grove published On The Correlation of Physical Forces in which he anticipated the general theory of the conservation of energyConservation of energy
The nineteenth century law of conservation of energy is a law of physics. It states that the total amount of energy in an isolated system remains constant over time. The total energy is said to be conserved over time...
that was more famously put forward in Hermann von Helmholtz
Hermann von Helmholtz
Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz was a German physician and physicist who made significant contributions to several widely varied areas of modern science...
' Über die Erhaltung der Kraft (On the Conservation of Force) published the following year. His 1846 Bakerian lecture
Bakerian Lecture
The Bakerian Lecture is a prize lecture of the Royal Society, a lecture on physical sciences.In 1775 Henry Baker left £100 for a spoken lecture by a Fellow on such part of natural history or experimental philosophy as the Society shall determine....
relied heavily on his theory.
James Prescott Joule
James Prescott Joule
James Prescott Joule FRS was an English physicist and brewer, born in Salford, Lancashire. Joule studied the nature of heat, and discovered its relationship to mechanical work . This led to the theory of conservation of energy, which led to the development of the first law of thermodynamics. The...
had been inspired to his investigations into the mechanical equivalent of heat
Mechanical equivalent of heat
In the history of science, the mechanical equivalent of heat was a concept that had an important part in the development and acceptance of the conservation of energy and the establishment of the science of thermodynamics in the 19th century....
by comparing the mass
Mass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
of coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
consumed in a steam engine
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
with the mass of zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
consumed in a Grove battery in performing a common quantity of mechanical work. Grove was certainly familiar with William Thomson
William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin
William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin OM, GCVO, PC, PRS, PRSE, was a mathematical physicist and engineer. At the University of Glasgow he did important work in the mathematical analysis of electricity and formulation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics, and did much to unify the emerging...
's theoretical analysis of Joule's experimental results and Thomson's immature suggestions of conservation of energy. Thomson's public champion, Peter Guthrie Tait
Peter Guthrie Tait
Peter Guthrie Tait FRSE was a Scottish mathematical physicist, best known for the seminal energy physics textbook Treatise on Natural Philosophy, which he co-wrote with Kelvin, and his early investigations into knot theory, which contributed to the eventual formation of topology as a mathematical...
was initially a supporter of Grove's ideas but later dismissed them with some coolness.
Though Groves's ideas were forerunners of the theory of the conservation of energy, they were qualitative, unlike the quantitative investigations of Joule or Julius Robert von Mayer
Julius Robert von Mayer
Julius Robert von Mayer was a German physician and physicist and one of the founders of thermodynamics...
. His ideas also shaded into broader speculation, such as the nature of Olbers's paradox, which he may have discovered for himself rather than through a direct knowledge.
Grove also speculated that other forms of energy were yet to be discovered "as far certain as certain can be of any future event."
Royal Society politics
As soon as he became a Fellow of the Royal SocietyRoyal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
in 1840 Grove was a critic of the Society, deprecating its cronyism
Cronyism
Cronyism is partiality to long-standing friends, especially by appointing them to positions of authority, regardless of their qualifications. Hence, cronyism is contrary in practice and principle to meritocracy....
and the de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
rule of a few influential Council members. In 1843, he published an anonymous attack on the scientific establishment in Blackwood's Magazine
Blackwood's Magazine
Blackwood's Magazine was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by the publisher William Blackwood and was originally called the Edinburgh Monthly Magazine. The first number appeared in April 1817 under the editorship of Thomas Pringle and James Cleghorn...
and called for reform. In 1846 Grove was elected to the Council of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
, and was heavily involved in the campaign to modernise its charter, in addition to campaigning for the public funding of science.
A charter committee had already been established, and Grove joined it. Groves's fellow campaigners included Gassiot, Leonard Horner
Leonard Horner
Leonard Horner , Scottish geologist, brother of Francis Horner, was born in Edinburgh.Horner was a 'radical educational reformer' who was involved in the establishment of University College School....
and Edward Sabine
Edward Sabine
General Sir Edward Sabine KCB FRS was an Irish astronomer, geophysicist, ornithologist and explorer.Two branches of Sabine's work in particular deserve very high credit: Determination of the length of the seconds pendulum, a simple pendulum whose time period on the surface of the Earth is two...
. Their principal objectives were for the number of new Fellows to be subject to an annual limit, and limitation of the power of nomination to the Council. The reformers' success in 1847 led to the resignation of several key conservatives and the establishment of Grove and his associates with domination of the Council. To celebrate, the reformers founded the Philosophical Club.
Though the Philosophical Club succeeded in ensuring that William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse
William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse
William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, Knight of the Order of St Patrick was an Irish astronomer who had several telescopes built. His 72-inch telescope "Leviathan", built 1845, was the world's largest telescope until the early 20th century.-Life:He was born in Yorkshire, England, in the city of...
was appointed next President, they failed to get Grove appointed as Secretary. Grove continued to campaign for a single home for all the scientific institutions at Burlington House
Burlington House
Burlington House is a building on Piccadilly in London. It was originally a private Palladian mansion, and was expanded in the mid 19th century after being purchased by the British government...
.
Legal career
From 1846 Grove started to reduce his scientific work in favour of his professional practice at the bar, his young family providing the financial motivation; and in 1853 became a QCQueen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
. The bar provided him with the opportunity to combine his legal and scientific knowledge, in particular in patent law and in the unsuccessful defence of poison
Poison
In the context of biology, poisons are substances that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism....
er William Palmer
William Palmer (murderer)
William Palmer was an English doctor who was convicted of murder in one of the most notorious cases of the 19th century.-Early life:...
in 1856. He was especially involved in the photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
patent cases of Beard v. Egerton (1845–1849), on behalf of Egerton, and of Talbot v. Laroche
Talbot v. Laroche
Talbot v. Laroche was a 1854 legal action, pivotal to the history of photography, by which William Fox Talbot sought to assert that Martin Laroche's use of the, unpatented, collodion process infringed his calotype patent.-Background:...
(1854). In the latter case Grove appeared for William Fox Talbot
William Fox Talbot
William Henry Fox Talbot was a British inventor and a pioneer of photography. He was the inventor of calotype process, the precursor to most photographic processes of the 19th and 20th centuries. He was also a noted photographer who made major contributions to the development of photography as an...
in his unsuccessful attempt to assert his calotype
Calotype
Calotype or talbotype is an early photographic process introduced in 1841 by William Henry Fox Talbot, using paper coated with silver iodide. The term calotype comes from the Greek for 'beautiful', and for 'impression'....
patent.
Grove served on a Royal Commission
Royal Commission
In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
on patent law and on the Metropolitan Commission of Sewers
Metropolitan Commission of Sewers
The Metropolitan Commission of Sewers was one of London's first steps towards bringing its sewer and drainage infrastructure under the control of a single public body. It was a precursor of the Metropolitan Board of Works.-Formation:...
.
In 1871 he was made judge of the Court of Common Pleas
Court of Common Pleas (England)
The Court of Common Pleas, or Common Bench, was a common law court in the English legal system that covered "common pleas"; actions between subject and subject, which did not concern the king. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century after splitting from the Exchequer of Pleas, the Common...
, and was appointed to the Queen's Bench in 1880. He was to have presided at the Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
and Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
winter assizes
Assizes
Assize or Assizes may refer to:Assize or Assizes may refer to:Assize or Assizes may refer to::;in common law countries :::*assizes , an obsolete judicial inquest...
of 1884, which would have entailed him trying the notorious survival cannibalism case of R v. Dudley and Stephens. However, at the last minute he was substituted by Baron Huddleston, possibly because Huddleston was seen as more reliable in ensuring the guilty verdict that the judiciary required. Grove did sit as one of five judges on the final determination of the case in the Divisional Court of the Queen's Bench
Divisional Court
A Divisional Court, in relation to the High Court of Justice of England and Wales, means a court sitting with at least two judges. Matters heard by a Divisional Court include some criminal cases in the High Court as well as certain judicial review cases...
.
Grove was a careful, painstaking and accurate judge, courageous and not afraid to assert an independent judicial opinion. However, he was fallible in patent cases, where he was prone to become over-interested in the technology in question and to be distracted by questioning the litigants as to potential improvements in their devices, even going so far as to suggest his own innovations. He retired from the bench in 1887. His portrait was painted by Helen Donald-Smith
Helen Donald-Smith
Helen Donald-Smith was an English artist who worked in oil and watercolour, and was active circa 1890–1925. Her work featured landscapes, particularly of Venice, and portraits, including that of Brigadier General F.W...
in the 1890s.
Family
Groves's daughter, Imogen Emily (died 1886), married William Edward HallWilliam Edward Hall
William Edward Hall was an English lawyer and mountaineer who published some influential works on international law.-Early life:...
in 1866. His daughter Anna married Herbert Augustus Hills (1837–1907) and was mother to Edmond Herbert Grove-Hills
Edmond Herbert Grove-Hills
Edmond Herbert Grove-Hills was a British soldier and astronomer.He was born the son of Herbert Augustus and Anna Hills in High Head Castle, Cumberland and educated at Winchester College until 1882, after which he entered the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich...
("Colonel Rivers"), and John Waller Hills
John Waller Hills
John Waller Hills PC DCL was a British Conservative politician.The second son of Herbert Augustus and Anna Hills of High Head Castle, Cumberland, Hills was educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford....
Grove, his health perpetually troubled, died at home in London after a long illness. He is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery.
Honours
Grove became a Fellow of the Royal SocietyRoyal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
in 1840, and received their Royal Medal
Royal Medal
The Royal Medal, also known as The Queen's Medal, is a silver-gilt medal awarded each year by the Royal Society, two for "the most important contributions to the advancement of natural knowledge" and one for "distinguished contributions in the applied sciences" made within the Commonwealth of...
in 1847. He was Vice-President of the Royal Institution
Royal Institution
The Royal Institution of Great Britain is an organization devoted to scientific education and research, based in London.-Overview:...
in 1844. Receiving a knighthood in 1872, he was given an honorary degree by Cambridge University
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
in 1879 and became Privy Councillor in 1887.
The lunar crater "Grove
Grove (crater)
Grove is a small lunar impact crater that lies in the northern part of the Lacus Somniorum. It is located to the southeast of the crater remnant Mason. Grove is a relatively circular crater formation with a simple, sharp-edged rim. The unconsolidated material along the inner wall has slumped down...
" is named in his honor. The Grove Fuel Cell Symposium and Exhibition is organised by Elsevier
Elsevier
Elsevier is a publishing company which publishes medical and scientific literature. It is a part of the Reed Elsevier group. Based in Amsterdam, the company has operations in the United Kingdom, USA and elsewhere....
.
External links
- Sir William Grove (1811–1896)
- Archive of the Royal Institution
- Darwin Correspondence Project - correspondence with Charles DarwinCharles DarwinCharles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...