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.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

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...

Read More

Simpson, Maule and Nicholson

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

Read More

Other Subjects

Frank Pick

Frank Pick

Pioneer of good design for London Transport. Born Lincolnshire. Click on the picture source web site for more information.

Person, Art, Industry

2 memorials
White Hart Dock

White Hart Dock

The origins of a dock and slipway can be traced back to the 14th century. The present retaining structure was built c.1868 as a parish dock when the Albert Embankment was constructed by the Metrop...

Building, Industry

2 memorials
John Sutton Nettlefold

John Sutton Nettlefold

British industrialist and entrepreneur. Born London. A Unitarian, he married co-religionist, Martha Chamberlain (1794–1866) whose brother's son was Joseph Chamberlain. They lived in The Grove, High...

Person, Industry

1 memorial
Electricity sub station - Hackney

Electricity sub station - Hackney

Built for the tramway, 1905 - 07.

Building, Industry

1 memorial
Edwin Thomas Knott

Edwin Thomas Knott

Edwin Thomas Knott was born on 3 December 1894 in Greenwich, London, the eldest of the twelve children of Edwin Thomas Knott (1873-1938) and Elizabeth Mary Knott née Barlow (1875-1941). His birth w...

Person, Armed Forces, Industry

War dead non-military, WW2
1 memorial

Previously viewed

Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries - Deptford war servicemen

Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries - Deptford war servicemen

SE4, Brockley Grove, 113

The letters/numbers at the end of many of the entries refer to the location of the person's grave. Each entry includes the date of death....

War dead | WW1, WW2
154 subjects commemorated