John Henry Vivian

Who was John Henry Vivian?

John Henry Vivian FRS was a Welsh industrialist and politician of Cornish extraction.

Vivian was the son of John Vivian, of Truro, Cornwall, and his wife Betsey, daughter of the Reverend Richard Cranch, and the brother of Hussey Vivian, 1st Baron Vivian. He owned copper mining, copper smelting and trading businesses in Swansea, Liverpool, Birmingham and London. Between 1832 and 1855 he sat as Member of Parliament for Swansea District. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society, a major in the Royal Stannary Artillery, a Justice of the Peace and a Deputy Lieutenant.

Vivian married Sarah, eldest daughter of Arthur Jones, of Reigate on 30 October 1816. Their eight children included Henry Vivian, 1st Baron Swansea, Sir Arthur Vivian and Richard Glynn Vivian. He died on 10 February 1855. His wife survived him by over 30 years and died on 8 September 1886.

The mineral Vivianite is named in his honour.