United Alkali Company

Last updated

United Alkali Company Ltd
TypeLtd
IndustryBulk chemicals
Predecessor48 separate companies
Founded1890
Defunct1926
FateMerger
Successor Imperial Chemical Industries
Headquarters Widnes
Products Soda ash

United Alkali Company Limited was a British chemical company formed in 1890, employing the Leblanc process to produce soda ash for the glass, textile, soap, and paper industries. [1] It became one of the top four British chemical companies merged in 1926 with Brunner Mond, Nobel Explosives and British Dyestuffs Corporation to form Imperial Chemical Industries.

Contents

History

United Alkali was formed on 1 November 1890 when 48 chemical companies from the Tyne, Scotland, Ireland and Lancashire were merged. These included Newcastle Chemical Works, Allhusen, Gateshead; Atlas Chemical of Widnes; Henry Baxter of St Helens; Gaskell, Deacon of Widnes; Globe Alkali of St Helens; Golding-Davis of Widnes; Irvine Chemical of Scotland; A G Kurtz of St Helens; James Muspratt of Widnes and Liverpool; Runcorn Soap and Alkali; Charles Tennant of St Rollox, Glasgow; Wigg Brothers and Steele of Runcorn. [2] The merged companies were:

  1. Henry Baxter of St Helens
  2. Globe Alkali Co of St Helens
  3. Greenbank Alkali Works Co of St Helens
  4. A. G. Kurtz and Co of St Helens
  5. James McBryde and Co of St Helens
  6. William Chadwick and Sons t/a St Helens Chemical Co of St Helens
  7. Sutton Lodge Chemical Co of St Helens
  8. Thomas Walker of St Helens
  9. Gaskell, Deacon and Co of Widnes
  10. Golding Davis and Co of Widnes
  11. Robert Shaw t/a Hall Brothers and Shaw of Widnes
  12. Hay Gordon and Co of Widnes
  13. John Hutchinson and Co of Widnes
  14. Liver Alkali Works of Widnes
  15. Niel Mathieson and Co of Widnes
  16. Mort, Liddell and Co of Widnes
  17. Muspratt Bros. and Huntley of Flint
  18. James Muspratt and Sons of Widnes and Liverpool
  19. W. Pilkington and Son of Widnes
  20. The Runcorn Soap and Alkali Works of Runcorn and Weston
  21. Thomas Snape of Widnes
  22. Sullivan and Co of Widnes
  23. The Widnes Alkali Co of Widnes
  24. Wigg Brothers and Steele of Widnes
  25. The Netham Chemical Co of Bristol
  26. Hazlehurst and Sons of Runcorn
  27. Heworth Alkali Co of Heworth-on-Tyne
  28. Jarrow Chemical Co of Jarrow-on-Tyne
  29. Newcastle Chemical Works of Gateshead
  30. J. G. and W. H. Richardson of Jarrow-on-Tyne
  31. Seaham Chemical Works of Seaham Harbour
  32. St Bede Chemical Co of Jarrow-on-Tyne
  33. Charles Tennant and Partners of Hebburn-on-Tyne
  34. Wallsend Chemical Co of Wallsend-on-Tyne
  35. Eglinton Chemical Co of Irvine
  36. Irvine Chemical Co of Irvine
  37. North British Chemical Co of Dalmuir
  38. Charles Tennant and Co of St Rollox, Glasgow
  39. Boyd, Son and Co of Dublin
  40. Newcastle Chemical Works of Port Clarence
  41. Charles Tennant and Partners of Port Clarence
  42. Fleetwood Salt Co of Fleetwood
  43. E. Bramwell and Son of St Helens
  44. Morgan Mooney of Dublin
  45. Dublin and Wicklow Manure Co of Dublin
  46. Peter Alfred Mawdsley of Flint
  47. Tyneside Chemical Co of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
  48. J.C. Gamble & Sons Ltd of St. Helens

Following the merger of the companies, some concerns were raised about the impact on employment. In Robert Sherard's The White Slaves of England (1896) he quotes of the impact in Runcorn, where the Alkali factory previously employed about 500 men but fewer than ten after amalgamation.

See also

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

The Leblanc process was an early industrial process for making soda ash used throughout the 19th century, named after its inventor, Nicolas Leblanc. It involved two stages: making sodium sulfate from sodium chloride, followed by reacting the sodium sulfate with coal and calcium carbonate to make sodium carbonate. The process gradually became obsolete after the development of the Solvay process.

Bill Quay is a residential area in Gateshead, located around 4 miles (6.4 km) from Newcastle upon Tyne, 12 miles (19 km) from Sunderland, and 17 miles (27 km) from Durham. In 2011, Census data for the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council ward of Heworth and Pelaw recorded a total population of 9,100.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway</span> Former railway line in England

The St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway was an early railway line owned by a company of the same name in Lancashire, England, which opened in 1833. It was later known as St Helens Railway. It ran originally from the town of St Helens to the area which would later develop into the town of Widnes. Branches were opened to Garston, Warrington and Rainford. The company was taken over by the London and North Western Railway in 1864. The line from St Helens to Widnes and the branch to Rainford are now closed, the latter terminating at the Pilkington Glass' Cowley Hill works siding near Gerard's Bridge, but part of the lines to Garston and to Warrington are still in operation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Muspratt</span>

James Muspratt was a British chemical manufacturer who was the first to make alkali by the Leblanc process on a large scale in the United Kingdom.

Pelaw is a residential area in Gateshead, located around 3.5 miles (5.6 km) from Newcastle upon Tyne, 11 miles (18 km) from Sunderland, and 17 miles (27 km) from Durham. In 2011, Census data for the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council ward of Heworth and Pelaw recorded a total population of 9,100.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holbrook Gaskell</span>

Holbrook Gaskell was a British industrialist, and an art and plant collector.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Tennant</span> Scottish chemist and industrialist

Charles Tennant was a Scottish chemist and industrialist. He discovered bleaching powder and founded an industrial dynasty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hazlehurst & Sons</span>

Hazlehurst & Sons was a company making soap and alkali in Runcorn, Cheshire, England in the 19th century and in the early years of the 20th century. The family was also largely responsible for the growth of Methodism in the town during the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Widnes</span> Town in Cheshire, England

Widnes is an industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021 census had a population of 62,400.

Joseph Crosfield was a businessman who established a soap and chemical manufacturing business in Warrington, which was in the historic county of Lancashire and is now in the ceremonial county of Cheshire. This business was to become the firm of Joseph Crosfield and Sons.

Gossage is a family name of soapmakers and alkali manufacturers. Their company eventually became part of the Unilever group. During World War II, all soap brands were abolished by British government decree in 1942, in favour of a generic soap. When conditions returned to normal post war, the Gossage brand was not revived by Unilever though the company name is still registered for legal purposes. The online 'Times Index' shows meetings of the Gossage company board until the early 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Gossage</span> British chemist and businessman; established Gossage soap company (1799–1877)

William Gossage was a chemical manufacturer who established a soap making business in Widnes, Lancashire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Hutchinson (industrialist)</span>

John Hutchinson was a chemist and industrialist who established the first chemical factory in Widnes, Lancashire, England. He moved from working in a chemical factory in St Helens and built his own chemical factory in 1847 in the Woodend area of Widnes near to Widnes Dock by the junction of the Sankey Canal and the River Mersey. In this factory he manufactured alkali by the Leblanc process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Deacon (industrialist)</span> British chemist and businessman

Henry Deacon was a chemist and industrialist who established a chemical factory in Widnes, Lancashire, England.

Frederic Muspratt was a chemist and industrialist who established a chemical factory in Widnes, Lancashire, England.

Richard Muspratt was a chemical industrialist.

Edmund Knowles Muspratt was an English chemical industrialist.

Neil Mathieson was a Scottish chemist and businessman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Wigg</span>

Charles Wigg was an English manufacturer of chemicals in Runcorn, Cheshire, England. After working as an export agent in Liverpool he joined with two managers of a Runcorn chemical factory to build what was initially known as the Old Quay Chemical Works, and later became Wigg Works. At first the works manufactured soap and alkali, but soon moved to extracting copper from pyrites ash, and later making bleaching powder and ferric oxide. During the later part of the 19th century it was one of the most successful businesses in Runcorn. Charles Wigg retired from the business shortly after it was taken over by the United Alkali Company and died eight years later. The site of the factory has been developed into a nature reserve called Wigg Island.

Duncan McKechnie was a British chemical manufacturer and metal extractor. He was trained as a soap boiler in Glasgow and later moved to become a foreman at a soap and alkali factory in Runcorn, Cheshire. In 1869 he entered into partnership with two colleagues to run a new chemical factory in the town, but soon left to found his own company in St Helens. This company specialised in extracting and refining metals. It was sold to the United Alkali Company in 1891. After McKechnie's retirement his descendants continued to run factories bearing the name McKechnie into the 20th century.

References

  1. "Fleetwood's Maritime Heritage". United Alkali. 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
  2. "IMPERIAL CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES PLC; ARCHIVES OF BRUNNER, MOND AND COMPANY LTD AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES". The National Archives. Retrieved 21 March 2012.