CONOREVE, SIR WILLIAM, Ihnoser, was the son of the first baronet, an artillery officer of the same name, and was born in Middle sex May 20, 1772. He was destined by his father to a military life, and in 1816 had attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel of artillery, when he retired from the service.
He very early distinguished himself by his inventions in the con struction of missile& The rocket which bears his name was invented in 1S08, and proved a most destructive engine. It was used with great effect by Lord Cochrane in his attack on the French squadron in the Basque roads, at Walchereu, and at Waterloo, and the Emperor of Russia sent Sir William the decoration of St. Anne for its aervice at the battle of Leipzig in 1813. The rocket has however been much modified and improved since, and become an essential part of every armament, not in England alone, but universally. Sir William, who succeeded his father as baronet in 1814, had sat in parliament for Gatton in 1812, and in 1820 and 1826 he sat for Plymouth. He was patronised by the Duke of York, took an active part in the improve manta and ameliorations introduced by him into the army, nod was inspector of the royal laboratory at Woolwich. In 1816-17 Sir William
was appointed to attend on the Grand-Duke Nicholas (afterwards Emperor of Russia) on his tour through England. In 1826, when the speculative mania ran high, Sir William became connected with the Arigna Miniug Company : he in fact contracted to sell certain mines to the company of which be was to become a director. The honesty of the contract was impugned, and became the subject of a suit in chancery, and the Lord Chancellor decided that the transaction was fraudulent. This decision was announced on May 3, 1823; Sir William retired to Toulouse, and there he died on the 14th of the name month.
Sir William wrote and published ' An Elementary Treatise on the Mounting of Naval Ordnance,' 1812, and A Description of the Hydro pneumatic Lock,' 1815. In 1815 also he obtained a patent for a new mode of manufacturing gunpowder ; and in 1819 a patent for the manufacture of bauk-note paper for the prevention of forgery.