Gossage
Encyclopedia
Gossage is a family name of soap
makers 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.
(1799-1877) was the founder of the dynasty and the youngest of 13 children. He was born in Burgh in the Marsh, near Skegness
, Lincolnshire
. He had his chemical training from his uncle, a druggist in Chesterfield
to whom he was apprenticed at the age of 12, in 1823. He set up in business at Leamington
, where he made Leamington Salts. There he met a girl and was married in 1830. Their first son was Alfred Howard Gossage, born 1830. The following year he fathered another son, Frederick Herbert Gossage(1831-1907)].
Around the same year of 1830, he set up partnership with Mr Farndon to form the British Alkali Works at Stoke Prior
, Worcestershire
. British alkali meant sodium carbonate
made by the Leblanc Process
. The process involved the use of coal
, limestone
, salt
and sulphuric acid, which produced copious quantities of hydrogen chloride
. The noxious gas destroyed the crops of nearby farmers. By 1836 Gossage had solved the problem with his Gossage Tower.
Gossage left Stoke Prior for Birmingham in 1841, where he entered the white lead trade. In 1844 he switched locations and businesses again, becoming a copper smelter
in South Wales
. However, he would return to Stoke Prior in 1848.
In 1850 he made his final move, to Widnes
in Lancashire
, where he set up a copper smelter. Vast quantities of iron pyrites (FeS) were burnt in the town. to produce sulphur compounds for the sulphuric acid vital for the Leblanc Process. Copper was a common impurity in pyrites, and he devised a way to extract from the burnt pyrites. However, as soon as the pyrites mine owners heard of his process, they adopted it themselves. Gossage ruefully observed
Gossage continued soda making in Widnes, patenting important new methods in 1852. His greatest commercial success was with 'silicated soap', pure soap with sodium silicate
added. The corrosive water glass had to be neutralised somewhat by additives such as starch. His original patent for silicated soap was Patent BP 762/54, patented on April 3, 1854, rapidly followed with patents for the addition of other substances to the mixture. Examples are patents 826 and 908 , for firming up the soap with the addition of 'wheat flour or other farinaceous substance', or 'finely divided china clay or flints'. Patent 908 also extended protection to silicated soaps made by the cold process (saponification without the addition of external heat). In 1856 provisional Patent 252, full patent 1293, was for adding extra fatty acids or salts of 'lime, magnesia, ammonia, alumina or mixtures of same. Patent 2100 of 1856 was also concerned with making the soap milder. The silicated soap could be made and sold for two pennies per pound, compared to six for normal soaps.
In 1857 he introduced 'Mottled soap' which had a marbled appearance. This became a best seller, domestically and abroad. It was protected by Patent 1120 of 21 April 1857. The original blocks of soap were brown. Wm Gossage called in James Hargreaves, (1834-1915) a local consultant chemist. After many sleepless nights they eventually discovered a way to produce a whitish soap with the mottle (particles of ultra marine) distributed evenly through it, producing a soap that looked rather like a blue cheese.
Other companies followed his lead- mottled soaps were widely made, by companies such as Christopher Price of Bristol. It is unclear whether they copied Gossage's ideas, or had some kind of licensing agreement.
Some sources say that the Gossage company was responsible for 50% of all the UK's soap exports in the 1860s and 1870s. Gossage made soaps for India and China. For domestic sale, it made special soaps, such as kosher soaps.
He retired from the business in the 1860s, leaving it to his sons Alfred and Frederick Herbert, and his astute business manager, Shirley Timmis. William Gossage died at his home in Bowdon
, Cheshire
, April 9, 1877, with less than £160,000 to his name.
The 1881 Census reports that Alfred was then described as 'retired soap manufacturer'. Frederick Herbert became the manager of the company. He left around £720,000 in his will.
Gossage's response was to produce their own similar soap, also wrapped, branded and advertised. This was 'Magical', whose logo included a wizard, and mystical symbols, such as crescent moons. This was successful, but other competitors also entered the market, such as Crosfields of Warrington and Hazelhursts of Runcorn.
In the early 1900s Lever's empire purchased Hudson's soap flake business. Hudson's soap flakes had been made under contract by Gossage's. Lever moved production to Port Sunlight. Gossages soon produced an own brand soap flake. Unfortunately, Lever claimed they were using Hudson's (now Lever's) proprietary recipes- and sued the Gossage company. The resulting law suit damaged Gossage's finances and reputation.
In 1910-1911, they were taken over by the Bruner-Mond company, alkali makers.
During the Great War (1914-18) the company produced glycerine for the war effort. In peacetime, competition resumed.
Brunner-Mond sold Gossages and other soap companies to Lever, under an agreement: they would exit the soap market, and Lever would not make his own alkali, instead buying it from Brunner-Mond at preferable rates. So, by 1923, after complex negotiations, the Gossage factory became a Lever property.
By 1932, Lever Bros had joined with the Margarine Union of the Netherlands to form Unilever
. By that year, 'Magical', and other brands were basically slight variants of 'Sunlight'. So, rationalisation meant the closure of the Widnes plant, and concentration of soap production at Port Sunlight.
The factory was demolished, save for the office buildings, which lay derelict for many years. From the 1980s they have formed the core of Catalyst:Museum of the Chemical Industry. The waste ground near the Gossage Buildings formed the site of the Spike Island Festival of 1990.
in Liverpool
, was forced from Everton due to complaints by neighbours. This was one reason why the early alkali makers set up in then remote spots such as Widnes
, which they thought would be distant from litigious neighbours.
To absorb the waste gas, an apparatus was needed. Muriatic acid gas (HCl) was known to be soluble in water, but at that time it was thought that volume was the crucial variable and no known process could deliver the enormous quantities of water thought to be necessary. In experiments at Stoke Prior, Gossage discovered that surface area, not volume, was the key to absorption. He filled an old windmill with twigs and brushwood, and ran a trickle of water over the twigs. This made for a great surface area of water, able to absorb over 90% of the noxious gas. The dissolved gas created liquid hydrochloric acid. The liquid acid was poured into the local rivers and canals, replacing the vast amounts of air pollution with vast amounts of water pollution.
However, not all makers used the Gossage Tower, even Gossage himself may not have used it at his Widnes plant until all alkali makers were forced to use it by the Alkali Act of 1863
. In the 1880s chlorine became a valuable resource, used in bleaching powder and other products. Inventors such as Henry Deacon
and Walter Weldon
devised ways to extract chlorine from the hydrochloric acid, thereby ending the water pollution problem caused by the acid.
Soap
In chemistry, soap is a salt of a fatty acid.IUPAC. "" Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. . Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford . XML on-line corrected version: created by M. Nic, J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN...
makers and alkali manufacturers. Their company eventually became part of the Unilever
Unilever
Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....
group. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, 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.
Family History
William GossageWilliam Gossage
William Gossage was a chemical manufacturer who established a soap making business in Widnes, Lancashire, England.-Early life:...
(1799-1877) was the founder of the dynasty and the youngest of 13 children. He was born in Burgh in the Marsh, near Skegness
Skegness
Skegness is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. Located on the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, east of the city of Lincoln it has a total resident population of 18,910....
, Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
. He had his chemical training from his uncle, a druggist in Chesterfield
Chesterfield
Chesterfield is a market town and a borough of Derbyshire, England. It lies north of Derby, on a confluence of the rivers Rother and Hipper. Its population is 70,260 , making it Derbyshire's largest town...
to whom he was apprenticed at the age of 12, in 1823. He set up in business at Leamington
Leamington Spa
Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or Leamington or Leam to locals, is a spa town in central Warwickshire, England. Formerly known as Leamington Priors, its expansion began following the popularisation of the medicinal qualities of its water by Dr Kerr in 1784, and by Dr Lambe...
, where he made Leamington Salts. There he met a girl and was married in 1830. Their first son was Alfred Howard Gossage, born 1830. The following year he fathered another son, Frederick Herbert Gossage(1831-1907)].
Around the same year of 1830, he set up partnership with Mr Farndon to form the British Alkali Works at Stoke Prior
Stoke Prior, Worcestershire
Stoke Prior is a village in the civil parish of Stoke in Bromsgrove District of Worcestershire. The parish includes the settlement of Stoke Wharf and hamlet of Woodgate, along with neighbouring Stoke Heath...
, Worcestershire
Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
. British alkali meant sodium carbonate
Sodium carbonate
Sodium carbonate , Na2CO3 is a sodium salt of carbonic acid. It most commonly occurs as a crystalline heptahydrate, which readily effloresces to form a white powder, the monohydrate. Sodium carbonate is domestically well-known for its everyday use as a water softener. It can be extracted from the...
made by the Leblanc Process
Leblanc process
The Leblanc process was the industrial process for the production of soda ash used throughout the 19th century, named after its inventor, Nicolas Leblanc. It involved two stages: Production of sodium sulfate from sodium chloride, followed by reaction of the sodium sulfate with coal and calcium...
. The process involved the use of coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
, limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
, salt
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
and sulphuric acid, which produced copious quantities of hydrogen chloride
Hydrogen chloride
The compound hydrogen chloride has the formula HCl. At room temperature, it is a colorless gas, which forms white fumes of hydrochloric acid upon contact with atmospheric humidity. Hydrogen chloride gas and hydrochloric acid are important in technology and industry...
. The noxious gas destroyed the crops of nearby farmers. By 1836 Gossage had solved the problem with his Gossage Tower.
Gossage left Stoke Prior for Birmingham in 1841, where he entered the white lead trade. In 1844 he switched locations and businesses again, becoming a copper smelter
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
in South Wales
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
. However, he would return to Stoke Prior in 1848.
In 1850 he made his final move, to Widnes
Widnes
Widnes is an industrial town within the borough of Halton, in Cheshire, England, with an urban area population of 57,663 in 2004. It is located on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. Directly to the south across the Mersey is the town of Runcorn...
in Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, where he set up a copper smelter. Vast quantities of iron pyrites (FeS) were burnt in the town. to produce sulphur compounds for the sulphuric acid vital for the Leblanc Process. Copper was a common impurity in pyrites, and he devised a way to extract from the burnt pyrites. However, as soon as the pyrites mine owners heard of his process, they adopted it themselves. Gossage ruefully observed
"That is the worst of telling people you can get something out of their refuse"
Gossage continued soda making in Widnes, patenting important new methods in 1852. His greatest commercial success was with 'silicated soap', pure soap with sodium silicate
Sodium silicate
Sodium silicate is the common name for a compound sodium metasilicate, Na2SiO3, also known as water glass or liquid glass. It is available in aqueous solution and in solid form and is used in cements, passive fire protection, refractories, textile and lumber processing, and automobiles...
added. The corrosive water glass had to be neutralised somewhat by additives such as starch. His original patent for silicated soap was Patent BP 762/54, patented on April 3, 1854, rapidly followed with patents for the addition of other substances to the mixture. Examples are patents 826 and 908 , for firming up the soap with the addition of 'wheat flour or other farinaceous substance', or 'finely divided china clay or flints'. Patent 908 also extended protection to silicated soaps made by the cold process (saponification without the addition of external heat). In 1856 provisional Patent 252, full patent 1293, was for adding extra fatty acids or salts of 'lime, magnesia, ammonia, alumina or mixtures of same. Patent 2100 of 1856 was also concerned with making the soap milder. The silicated soap could be made and sold for two pennies per pound, compared to six for normal soaps.
In 1857 he introduced 'Mottled soap' which had a marbled appearance. This became a best seller, domestically and abroad. It was protected by Patent 1120 of 21 April 1857. The original blocks of soap were brown. Wm Gossage called in James Hargreaves, (1834-1915) a local consultant chemist. After many sleepless nights they eventually discovered a way to produce a whitish soap with the mottle (particles of ultra marine) distributed evenly through it, producing a soap that looked rather like a blue cheese.
Other companies followed his lead- mottled soaps were widely made, by companies such as Christopher Price of Bristol. It is unclear whether they copied Gossage's ideas, or had some kind of licensing agreement.
Some sources say that the Gossage company was responsible for 50% of all the UK's soap exports in the 1860s and 1870s. Gossage made soaps for India and China. For domestic sale, it made special soaps, such as kosher soaps.
He retired from the business in the 1860s, leaving it to his sons Alfred and Frederick Herbert, and his astute business manager, Shirley Timmis. William Gossage died at his home in Bowdon
Bowdon, Greater Manchester
Bowdon is a suburban village and electoral ward in the Altrincham area of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England.-History:...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, April 9, 1877, with less than £160,000 to his name.
The 1881 Census reports that Alfred was then described as 'retired soap manufacturer'. Frederick Herbert became the manager of the company. He left around £720,000 in his will.
The Gossage Soap Company
After their enormous success with silicated soap, the company faced a new threat from 1884. This was William Hesketh Lever's Sunlight soap. The new Sunlight was a technical and commercial novelty.Gossage's response was to produce their own similar soap, also wrapped, branded and advertised. This was 'Magical', whose logo included a wizard, and mystical symbols, such as crescent moons. This was successful, but other competitors also entered the market, such as Crosfields of Warrington and Hazelhursts of Runcorn.
In the early 1900s Lever's empire purchased Hudson's soap flake business. Hudson's soap flakes had been made under contract by Gossage's. Lever moved production to Port Sunlight. Gossages soon produced an own brand soap flake. Unfortunately, Lever claimed they were using Hudson's (now Lever's) proprietary recipes- and sued the Gossage company. The resulting law suit damaged Gossage's finances and reputation.
In 1910-1911, they were taken over by the Bruner-Mond company, alkali makers.
During the Great War (1914-18) the company produced glycerine for the war effort. In peacetime, competition resumed.
Brunner-Mond sold Gossages and other soap companies to Lever, under an agreement: they would exit the soap market, and Lever would not make his own alkali, instead buying it from Brunner-Mond at preferable rates. So, by 1923, after complex negotiations, the Gossage factory became a Lever property.
By 1932, Lever Bros had joined with the Margarine Union of the Netherlands to form Unilever
Unilever
Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....
. By that year, 'Magical', and other brands were basically slight variants of 'Sunlight'. So, rationalisation meant the closure of the Widnes plant, and concentration of soap production at Port Sunlight.
The factory was demolished, save for the office buildings, which lay derelict for many years. From the 1980s they have formed the core of Catalyst:Museum of the Chemical Industry. The waste ground near the Gossage Buildings formed the site of the Spike Island Festival of 1990.
The Gossage Tower
The acid gas emitted by the Leblanc Process was a considerable nuisance. The first successful user of the process, James MusprattJames Sheridan Muspratt
James Sheridan Muspratt was a research chemist and teacher. His most influential publication was his two-volume book Chemistry, Theoretical, Practical and Analytical as applied and relating to the Arts and Manufactures .James Sheridan Muspratt was born in Dublin and moved to Liverpool with his...
in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, was forced from Everton due to complaints by neighbours. This was one reason why the early alkali makers set up in then remote spots such as Widnes
Widnes
Widnes is an industrial town within the borough of Halton, in Cheshire, England, with an urban area population of 57,663 in 2004. It is located on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. Directly to the south across the Mersey is the town of Runcorn...
, which they thought would be distant from litigious neighbours.
To absorb the waste gas, an apparatus was needed. Muriatic acid gas (HCl) was known to be soluble in water, but at that time it was thought that volume was the crucial variable and no known process could deliver the enormous quantities of water thought to be necessary. In experiments at Stoke Prior, Gossage discovered that surface area, not volume, was the key to absorption. He filled an old windmill with twigs and brushwood, and ran a trickle of water over the twigs. This made for a great surface area of water, able to absorb over 90% of the noxious gas. The dissolved gas created liquid hydrochloric acid. The liquid acid was poured into the local rivers and canals, replacing the vast amounts of air pollution with vast amounts of water pollution.
However, not all makers used the Gossage Tower, even Gossage himself may not have used it at his Widnes plant until all alkali makers were forced to use it by the Alkali Act of 1863
Alkali Act 1863
Under the British Alkali Act 1863, an Alkali inspector and four subinspectors were appointed to curb discharge into the air of hydrogen chloride from the Leblanc alkali works.In 1874 the Inspector became the Chief Inspector...
. In the 1880s chlorine became a valuable resource, used in bleaching powder and other products. Inventors such as Henry Deacon
Deacon process
The Deacon process was a secondary process used during the manufacture of alkalis by the Leblanc process. Hydrogen chloride gas was converted to chlorine gas which was then used to manufacture a commercially valuable bleaching powder, and at the same time the emission of waste hydrochloric acid...
and Walter Weldon
Weldon process
The Weldon process is a process developed in 1866 by Walter Weldon for recovering manganese dioxide for re-use in chlorine manufacture. Commercial operations started at the Gamble works in St. Helens in 1869. The process is describe in considerable detailed in the book, The Alkali Industry, by J.R...
devised ways to extract chlorine from the hydrochloric acid, thereby ending the water pollution problem caused by the acid.
Sources
- A History of the Chemical Industry in Widnes, by D.W.F.Hardie, ICI General Chemicals Division, Widnes, 1950.
- A Dictionary of Business Biography. Vol 2 Article 'Gossage' by Peter. N. Reed, Butterworth, London 1984
- "The Monster Nuisance of All:Landowners, Alkali Manufacturers and Air Pollution 1828-64" Economic History Review, 2nd series vol 35 1982
- Chemical Classics