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Origins of An Early English Rubber Manufactory
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 July 2012
Extract
America's indebtedness to Europe in the nineteenth century as a source of industrial ideas and technique is well-known. Our purpose, however, is to show that the transfer of technological knowledge was by no means one way, from Europe to America. In fact at least one important exception exists in the rubber manufacturing industry, the foundations of which were laid in the first half of the nineteenth century. The origins of this industry in the United Kingdom and throughout the Continent of Europe, including European Russia, show a marked dependence of the Old World on the New, not only in terms of technique but in the establishment of American business houses in Europe.
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- Research Article
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- Copyright © The President and Fellows of Harvard College 1951
References
1 My thanks are due to Messrs. G. Spencer, Moulton & Co., Ltd., rubber manufacturers of Bradford-on-Avon, for placing at my disposal the company's archives. I have also received other documents and valuable assistance from Mr. J. M. Chrystal, Mr. A. E. Moulton, and Dr. Samuel S. Pickles. The manuscript references in this article are fromthe Moulton Papers.
2 The life of this nineteenth century industrialist is being dealt with in my wider study on the rise of the rubber industry in the United Kingdom.
3 Estimated net imports of crude rubber into the U.S. in 1830: 160 long tons.
4 Charles Goodyear, “Gum Elastic” (1855), facsimile reproduction, Birmingham Public Libraries Photostat, 1937, p. 117.
5 I had come to the conclusion that this opinion was held almost universally when my attention was drawn to Barker's, P. W. study, Charles Goodyear (Boston, Mass., privately printed, 1940).Google Scholar See especialty p. 25.
6 Vulcan: in Roman mythology the God of fire. It is fairly certain that the use of the term vulcanization, in reference to rubber, originated in England. On February 22, 1848, Stephen Moulton wrote to William Rider: “How could you possibly adopt the title of Macintosh and call your rubber vulcan-ized.” Yet the term appears throughout the 1855 edition of Goodyear's ‘Gum Elastic.”
7 I am indebted to Dr. Samuel S. Pickles for this precise definition.
8 A reliable estimate of the imports of crude rubber into the U.K. is not available; it is thought that it was considerably less than the corresponding figure for the United States, and in the region of 23 long tons.
9 I cannot help thinking that P. W. Barker in his study, Charles Goodyear, has underestimated the vital importance of Hancock's discovery in the history of mechanical inventions. There is in fact little difference in principle between present day masticators and Hancock's hand-driven ‘pickle.’
10 Signers of affidavit, Moulton Papers, sworn May 3 and filed May 5, 1852: Arthur Aiken, F. L. S., Lecturer in Chemistry in Guy's Hospital; William Thos. Brande, Royal Mint, late Professor of Chemistry for 40 years in the Royal Institution; John Thos. Cooper, Consulting and Analytical Chemist; and Thos. Graham, Professor in Chemistry, University College, London.
11 Moulton Papers, sworn May 4 and filed May 5, 1852.
12 Moulton's patent of 1847—unlike those of Goodyear and Hancock—prescribed lead thiosulphate as the vulcanizing agent.
13 Moulton Papers, SM to WR, January 30, 1848.
14 WR to SM, August 14, 1847.
15 WR to SM, November 15, 1847.
16 WR to SM, January 3, 1848.
17 WR to SM, January 13, 1848.
18 WR to SM, February 4, 1848.
19 SM to T. Scutt, October 10, 1851.
20 WR to SM, March 10, 1848.
21 WR to SM, October 25, 1848.
22 W. Brown to SM, September 2, 1861.
23 WR to SM, June 6, 1848.
24 WR to SM, March 10, 1848.
25 WR to SM, April 4, 1848.
26 WR to SM, September 22, 1847.
27 WR to SM, November 15, 1847.
28 Idem.
29 SM to WR, January 13, 1849: “Send me immediately one of Bogardus Mills with a full set of plates. The price at $75 or thereabouts.”
30 WR to SM, March 7, 1849: “Mr. Bogardus is so busy making Gold washers at $70 each which do not cost $15 that a common trade like a Mill for you is not considered of any account.” Also, SM to WR, April 25, 1849: “I now say very properly: No Mill, No Jenny Lind.”
31 WR to SM, October 31, 1848.
32 WR to SM, June 18, 1850.
33 WR to SM, July 6, 1850.
34 Emory Rider to SM, July 6, 1850.
35 The Goodyear Shoe Association was an attempt to protect the interests of Goodyear licencees. WR to SM, April 4, 1848: “Charley [Goodyear] is here…unless he does something soon everything will be open to the world.”
36 SM to WR, January 11, 1849.
37 WR to SM, March 7, 1849.
38 Messrs. Hutchinson, Henderson & Coy, Licencee of Messrs. Charles Macintosh & Coy, to SM, April 15, 1856.
39 SM to American Ambassador, George Bancroft, Esq., January 15, 1849.
40 WR to SM, September 22, 1847.
41 WR to SM, October 31, 1848.
42 WR to SM, April 8, 1848.
43 Idem.
44 WR to SM, October 30, 1849.
45 R. Jaques to SM, April 20, 1849: “Brockerton (Broekedon of Chas. Macintosh & Coy has told the Chief Clerk of Leaf & Coy that he intends stopping you as soon as you commence and moreover he remarked you have not a leg to stand upon.”
46 WR to SM, May 24, 1848.
47 SM to WR, June 23, 1848.
48 SM to WR, July 28, 1848.
49 WR to SM, May 22, 1850.
50 WR to SM, June 5, 1850.
51 An unsuccessful attempt on the part of Macintosh & Coy to obtain an injunction against Moulton. The case for infringement of patent was based on the assertion that the lead in the hyposulphite was only a vehicle for the sulphur which was the principal vulcanizing agent as in the Hancock patent.
52 The present head of the company's research department is Stephen's great-grandson, Mr. A. E. Moulton.
53 Included in the sale of the Kingston Mill in 1848 was the “Great Hall or Manor House” which became the home of the Moulton family unto the present day. An interesting aspect of Stephen Moulton's life was the time and energy he gave to restore this property until today it stands as one of the best examples of Elizabethan architecture. “The Hall” became a center not only of industrial but also of civic and cultural influence.