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

James Wilson

James Wilson

Manufacturer, economist, journalist and public servant. Born Hawick, Scotland. Died Calcutta. Founder in 1843 of the Economist publication. Liberal MP, opponent of the Corn Laws. Founder of the Cha...

Person, Economist, Industry, Journalism / Publishing, India, Scotland

1 memorial
Bennet Woodcroft

Bennet Woodcroft

Inventor, industrial archaeologist, leading figure in patent reform and the first clerk to the commissioners of patents. Born Lancashire. Appointed professor of machinery at University College Lond...

Person, History, Industry, Museums / Libraries

1 memorial
Samuel Palmer

Samuel Palmer

1857 joined his brother, George, in the family biscuit firm, Huntley and Palmers, based in Reading. Ran the London office and lived with his family in Hampstead in a house close to the site of the ...

Person, Commerce, Food & Drink, Industry

1 memorial
Hilda Hewlett

Hilda Hewlett

Aviator and aircraft manufacturer. Born Hilda Beatrice Herbert in Vauxhall. The first British woman to earn a pilot's licence, in 1911. Together with her business partner, Gustav Blondeau, she foun...

Person, Aviation, Industry, New Zealand

1 memorial
H. Young & Co.

H. Young & Co.

Foundry opened in Eccleston Street, Pimlico.

Group, Industry, Sculpture

3 memorials

Previously viewed

Drapers' Hall

Drapers' Hall

EC2, Throgmorton Avenue

Drapers' Hall On this site, once part of the Augustine Priory, Thomas Cromwell built his palace and in 1536 plotted the downfall of Anne ...

7 subjects commemorated
Walter Sickert

Walter Sickert

NW1, Mornington Crescent, 6

Greater London Council Walter Sickert, 1860 - 1942, painter and etcher, lived and worked here.

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
17 Bruton Street

17 Bruton Street

The London home of the Earl and Countess of Strathmore from 1920. The house from which their daughter married the Duke of York (the future King George VI) and the house to which the couple moved ju...

Building, Royalty

1 memorial
Cardinal Newman - EC4

Cardinal Newman - EC4

EC4, Threadneedle Street, 60

The plaque can be seen to the lower right in the picture. The address is sometimes given as 80 Old Broad Street, the address at which he ...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Princess Alice disaster

Princess Alice disaster

London's worst peacetime disaster. The Princess Alice was a passenger paddle steamer, making what was called a 'moonlight trip', from Swan Pier near London Bridge to the former Rosherville Pleasure...

Event, Tragedy, Transport

3 memorials