Born Birmingham. Initially worked on improved methods of electroplating. 1856 patented Parkesine, a celluloid recognised as the first man-made plastic (chewing gum, shellac and natural rubber are all classified as plastics).
1866 he set up The Parkesine Company at Hackney Wick intending to manufacture Parkesine cheaply in bulk but this was not successful and closed in 1868. Died London.
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Alexander Parkes
First plastic in the world, known as 'parkesine', invented by Alexander Parke...
Natural history collector. Born at the family seat near Manchester where he also died. His museum was at Leicester House on the northern side of Leicester Square and called the Holophusikon, or Hol...
Physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher. Born Pisa, Italy. His improvements to the telescope enabled him to make new important astronomical observations which supported Copernicus’s...
Born Germany. Considered the founder of organic chemistry and "father of the fertilizer industry". He also was behind the company that trademarked the Oxo cube and made the invention of Marmite p...
Equitable Life, the world's oldest mutual insurer, started business in 1762 in the parsonage of St Nicholas Acons in Nicholas Lane. It pioneered scientific life assurance by basing premiums on age ...
Chemist and physicist. Born Norfolk. Trained and worked as a doctor. 1797 moved to London and in 1801 stopped working and concentrated on his interests, setting up a private laboratory at 14 Buckin...
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