The first copperas factory in England was established at Queenborough in 1579, by Matthias Falconer, of Brabant.
Blue or Roman vitriol ' is copper sulphate; green vitriol, ferrous sulphate (copperas); white vitriol, zinc sulphate; and vitriol of Mars is a basic iron sulphate.
Ferrous sulphate, green vitriol or copperas, FeSO47H2O, was known to, and used by, the alchemists; it is mentioned in the writings of Agricola, and its preparation from iron and sulphuric acid occurs in the Tractatus chymico-philosophicus ascribed to Basil Valentine.
The first large-scale plant to produce copperas in England was in Parkstone, Poole, in around 1564.
Copperas is hydrated ferrous sulfate, also known as green vitriol.