Building    From 1859  To 1868

Atlas Dyeworks

Categories: Industry, Science

The Simpson, etc. plaque commemorates the Dyeworks which were at Victory Place 1859 - 68. This page refers to that site but also refers to the Hackney Dyeworks to which Atlas expanded. The photo shows the buildings in Hackney, not Victory Place, of which we can find no image.

Following the work done with synthetic aniline dyes by Perkin (discovery of mauve in 1856) the chemists, Maule and Nicholson, working in Simpson's Victory Place laboratory in 1859, created a dye with a red-purple colour which they called "roseine". The firm began manufacturing it and in 1860 it was renamed "magenta" after the Battle of Magenta, 1859. A commercial success.

In 1868 Maule and Nicholson retired and the firm became Brooke, Simpson & Spiller.

From Homunculus we learn: "In 1873 William Perkin sold his dye company to ... Brooke, Simpson and Spiller."

The RSC Historical Group Newsletter, February 2010, says "... the dyeworks soon outgrew the Victory Place site, and a bigger workplace was built at Hackney, with a research block, a tall central chimney and a giant Atlas figure proudly proclaiming aloft their successful pioneering venture." In 1987 The Hackney Society lists The Atlas Works, Berkshire Road, as a "building at risk". That source says it was built in 1863 and that in 1983 part of it was demolished, including the frontage "topped by a large stone statue of Atlas."

1910-58 the Atlas Works was occupied by The British Patent Perforated Paper Company, one of the first British companies to manufacture continuous and perforated toilet paper, Bronco.

CgMs, an archaeological desk-based assessment, is a planning report which includes the history of the area. It contains a various maps etc. which make it clear that Atlas Works was on the northern half of the block contained by Berkshire Road, Wallis Road, the River Lea Navigation and an unnamed access road.

We can discover nothing about the fate of Atlas himself.

And next door to the Atlas works was the Parkesine factory.

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Atlas Dyeworks

Commemorated ati

Bronco toilet paper

Bronco, the first perforated toilet paper, was developed here. The firm origi...

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Simpson, Maule and Nicholson

The rather odd wording of the plaque is explained by an item in the RSC Histo...

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Other Subjects

Tea Trade in London

Tea Trade in London

The following text is taken from the Shoreditch plaque: This plaque commemorates 350 years of the tea industry in the City of London. The industry was spread over Plantation House (now Plantation ...

Group, Commerce, Food & Drink, Industry

3 memorials
J. Arthur Rank

J. Arthur Rank

Flour miller and film-maker. Born Joseph Arthur Rank at Chestnut Villas, Holderness Road, Drypool, Kingston upon Hull. He worked for many years in his (very wealthy) father's flour milling business...

Person, Cinema, Industry

1 memorial
Shoreditch Electricity Generating Station and Refuse Destructor

Shoreditch Electricity Generating Station and Refuse Destructor

An early purpose-built undertaking to generate electricity from steam created by burning rubbish. From Geograph: " The generated electricity powered street lights and some adjacent washhouses, si...

Building, Industry

1 memorial
National Grid

National Grid

The high-voltage electric power transmission network in Great Britain, connecting power stations and major sub-stations. It ensures that electricity generated anywhere in England, Scotland and Wale...

Group, Industry

2 memorials

Previously viewed

Teddington Studios - John Sullivan

Teddington Studios - John Sullivan

TW11, Broom Road, Teddington Studios

We can't find the link from the QR code. The Sun reported the plaque's unveiling.

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Frieze of Parnassus - Donatello

Frieze of Parnassus - Donatello

SW7, Kensington Road

The monument, commissioned by Queen Victoria and designed by George Gilbert Scott, was built 1864-72, and the statue of Albert was instal...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Sir Joshua Reynolds

Sir Joshua Reynolds

Born in Plympton, Devonshire. Came to London in 1753. As a student of Italian art, his work became increasingly classical under the influence of the Bolognese school. In 1768 he was elected the fir...

Person, Art

15 memorials
Sir Charles MacKerras

Sir Charles MacKerras

Conductor and musicologist.  Born Schenectady, New York, but when he was three the family move to Australia where he was brought up.  An authority on the operas of Janacek and Mozart, and the comic...

Person, Music / songs, Australia, USA

1 memorial
Listed Building - SW14

Listed Building - SW14

SW14, Thames Bank, Leyden House

The portcullis plaque to the left is a fire insurance mark of the Westminster insurance company like this one at the Museum of London.