Stephen Moulton was an Englishman

Englishman

Englishman may refer to:*English people*Grey Partridge*Jason Englishman, Canadian rock music singer and guitarist*Jenny-Bea Englishman, real name of the Canadien singer Esthero*Erald Briscoe, reggae musician who records under the name Englishman...

 who, as an agent of the U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 rubber pioneer Charles Goodyear

Charles Goodyear

Charles Goodyear was an American inventor who developed a process to vulcanize rubber in 1839 -- a method that he perfected while living and working in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1844, and for which he received patent number 3633 from the United States Patent Office on June 15, 1844Although...

, first brought samples of vulcanized rubber to the UK. For the US revolutionary war hero see Stephen Moulton (soldier)

Stephen Moulton (soldier)

Lt. Col. Stephen Moulton and his sons fought in one of the most pivotal battles of the American Revolutionary War.Fighting a rear guard action for three days as George Washington directed the American retreat from Long Island, Moulton and three of his sons were finally captured on September 15, 1775...

.
Moulton who was born in Whorlton, County Durham

Whorlton, County Durham

Whorlton is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated to the east of Barnard Castle,Whorlton is situated near the River Tees. It has a pub called the 'Bridge Inn' due to the 19th century suspension bridge situated just outside the village. Arthur Headlam and James Wycliffe Headlam were...

, England, subsequently shared the samples with Thomas Hancock

Thomas Hancock (inventor)

Thomas Hancock , elder brother of inventor Walter Hancock, was an English inventor who founded the British rubber industry...

, who then beat Goodyear to a UK patent

Patent

A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....

 for the vulcanization process by a matter of a few weeks in 1843.

After various disputes with Hancock and Goodyear over patents and manufacturing rights Moulton established his own factory in 1848 at Kingston Mill near Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire

Wiltshire

Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...

, England.