Frederick Settle Barff

Born in Hackney and educated at Christ's College, Cambridge, Frederick Settle Barff trained for the clergy before his life took several new turns. After serving as an Anglican curate, he converted to Catholicism and went on to build a career that joined science, religion, and art in a distinctly Victorian way.

Barff worked as an ecclesiastical decorator and stained-glass manufacturer, with commissions in Liverpool, Ireland, and elsewhere. He later became better known as a chemist, teaching and lecturing in the field, including at the Royal Academy of Arts, and developing preservation methods for iron, stone, wood, and food.

His name is especially linked with the anti-corrosion technique often called the Bower-Barff process, created to help protect iron and steel by forming a durable oxide coating. That blend of practical invention and wide-ranging curiosity makes him a fascinating figure from the 19th century.