CHEMICALS
See Also: MURDERS Arsenic Poisoning; PHARMACEUTICALS; RED GLARE,
BURSTING IN THE AIR; THE
WHITBY TRADE
Explosives
The
Silvertown Explosion
Brunner
Mond manufactured caustic soda; opened in 1893.
The War Office took over part of the factory to purify raw T.N.T.
in. A fire broke out in the melt pot
room got out of control. 50 tons of
T.N.T. were waiting to be taken off site. The buildings it destroyed included
the local fire station.
19
January 1917 50 tons of T.N.T. exploded in Silvertown. 73 people in Poplar were
killed. The Savoy Hotel's windows were blown out.
A
gasometer the other side of the Thames was caught by debris and exploded.
Location:
North Woolwich Road, c.E16 2BE.
Close to the junction with Mill Road.
Gunpowder
Willow
trees were used in the manufacture of gunpowder.
The Royal
Navy was the principal recipient of the gunpowder.
Hounslow
Gunpowder Mills
King
Henry VIII started the manufacture of gunpowder on Hounslow Heath.
By the
1920s there were 90 buildings on the site.
They were largely made of wood and canvas to guard against excessive
loss of life in a blast.
In the
late 1920s the site's gunpowder licence was removed.
The
shot tower survives.
Location:
Crane Park, Mill Road, TW2 5HA
Website:
www.twickenham-museum.org.uk
Royal
Gunpowder Mills
Location:
The Royal Gunpowder Mills, Beaulieu Drive, Waltham Abbey, EN9 1JY
Website:
www.royalgunpowdermills.com
I.C.I.
I.C.I. s
history meant that it was active both in the commodity bulk chemicals sector
and the specialist chemicals business.
The former was highly cyclical while the latter was more profitable. In 1987 Sir Denys Henderson (1934-2016) was
appointed to be the company's chairman.
Following review, he decided to break up the business so that its more
profitable operations could flourish.
John Mayo, a Warburgs banker, was brought in to furnish a degree of
objectivity. In 1993 the pharma and
biosciences operations were placed in Zeneca, while chemicals and paints were
retained in I.C.I.. In 1999 the former
merged with Astra of Sweden. The latter
was broken up, the paints business being acquired by AkzoNobel of The
Netherlands in 2007. Many of its
commodity chemicals business were acquired by INEOS.
Location:
Imperial Chemical House, 9 Millbank, SW1P 3HX (blue, red)
Linoleum
In 1860
Frederick Walton (1834-1928) acquired a house and workshop in Chiswick. He noticed that a film collected on the
surface of paint when it stood in tins.
Before it took off as a floor covering, he thought that it might have
potential as a material for insulating sub-maritime telegraphic cables. This was lino. He submitted his full patent in 1863. The following year the business moved to
larger premises in Staines.
Location:
British Grove, Chiswick, W4 2NL
Liquid Crystal Displays
The
Ministry of Defence disliked the cost of cathode ray tubes. Therefore, the Ministry of Technology, which
was headed by John Stonehouse, indicated that it wanted a flat-screen
technology to be developed. George Gray
(1926-2013) of Hull University appreciated the potential of liquid
crystals. He synthesised the chemicals
that enabled liquid crystal displays to work.
Location:
The Ministry of Technology, 21-41 Millbank, SW1P 4QP (orange, red)
Liquid Crystal Displays
The
Ministry of Defence disliked the cost of cathode ray tubes. Therefore, the Ministry of Technology, which
was headed by John Stonehouse, indicated that it wanted a flat-screen
technology to be developed. George Gray
(1926-2013) of Hull University appreciated the potential of liquid
crystals. He synthesised the chemicals
that enabled liquid crystal displays to work.
Location:
The Ministry of Technology, 21-41 Millbank, SW1P 4QP (orange, red)
William Perkins
In 1856
William Perkin (1838-1907) discovered the first aniline dye in his home
laboratory.
Location:
Gosling House, Cable Street, E1 0DR (purple, yellow)
Oldfield
Lane, Greenford, UB6 8QE. South of The
Black Horse pub. Canalside-factory.
Plastic
Alexander
Parks created Parksine, a form of celluloid that he sought to use as a
substitute for ivory, bone, tortoiseshell, etc.. It was the first plastic. He had a factory in Hackney Wick. The business went bankrupt in 1868. Its assets were acquired by Daniel Spills,
who ran a waterproofing business that located in a neighbouring factory. He changed the material's name to
Xylonite. This business failed. Spills established a new factory in Homerton.
Spill
had hopes that the material might be used to insulate sub-maritime telegraphic
cables. Its big breakthrough was when it
was used to make washable cuffs and collars.
It went on to be used to manufacture a range of items. For a period, the business was the world s
largest manufacturer of ping-pong balls.
Location:
Parkesine Works, Berkshire Road (formerly Windsor Road), Hackney Wick, c.E9
5NN
British
Xylonite, 124 Homerton High Street, E9 6JA
The Salters' Company
The
goods that dry salters dealt in included chemicals.
Location:
4 London Wall, Fore Street, EC2Y 5DE (orange, red)
See
Also: THE GREAT TWELVE COMPANIES
Website:
https://salters.co.uk
David
Backhouse 2024