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...
Born in Edinburgh. Scientist, writer, dramatist and poet. Publicist of the campaign for sexual education. Advocate of family planning and founder of pioneer birth control clinic. Courageous crusade...
Mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer. c. 287 BC – c. 212 BC.
Chemist. Born Penzance. Wrote "Researches, Chemical and Philosophical". Discovered potassium, sodium, barium, strontium, etc. Invented the safety lamp for coal miners.
Inventor and businessman. Born Derbyshire. Invented a machine for manufacturing a new type of lace, bobbin net, and went on to manufacture and sell lace. 1815 he bought a mill in Tiverton, moved th...
Hydrographer and meteorologist. Born Ampton Hall, Suffolk. He attended the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth and eventually took command of The Beagle, with Charles Darwin as a passenger. In his late...
