Person    | Male  Born 8/5/1786  Died 26/3/1865

Thomas Hancock

Categories: Science

Inventor and founder of the British rubber industry. Born Wiltshire. After schooling he moved to London and is recorded in1815 as a coach builder in Pulteney Street with a shop in St James's Street. 1819 he was investigating the use of rubber to make items of clothing elastic and at a factory in Goswell Road he was making items such as braces, waistbands and straps. He invented the masticator, a machine which shredded the rubber and made it more malleable. He became the masticated rubber supplier to Charles Macintosh in Manchester and eventual became a partner in the firm. Hancock carried on his researches into the properties of rubber and discovered/invented/patented a number of useful substances: including vulcanized rubber and ebonite. His brothers Charles, John, Walter, and William worked with him. Died at Marlborough Cottage, Green Lanes, Stoke Newington, where he had lived for fifty years.

The factory was taken over by the British Tyre and Rubber Company Ltd.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hancock_(inventor)

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:
Thomas Hancock

Commemorated ati

Thomas Hancock

From the Scott Bader website: "Marble, granite or stone can be produced using...

Read More

Other Subjects

William Henry Hudson

William Henry Hudson

Author, naturalist and ornithologist.  Born on a small ranch, Los Viente-cinco Ombúes, near Quilmes in Buenos Aires province. Came to Britain in 1874 and produced a series of ornithological studies...

Person, Literature, Science, Argentina

4 memorials
First traffic lights in world

First traffic lights in world

Less than a month after the lights were installed the lamp blew up, seriously injuring the policeman who was operating it. See the IET and the Victorianist for two different takes on the story. 20...

Concept, Engineering, Science

1 memorial
Colonel Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton

Colonel Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton

Electrical engineer.  born Yorkshire.  Aged 11,  enrolled as a naval cadet and arrived in the Crimea just as the war ended.  He retired from the army to develop his engineering business interests. ...

Person, Science

1 memorial
International Desalination Association

International Desalination Association

The International Desalination Association (IDA) is the world’s leading resource for information and professional development for the global desalination industry – and the only global association ...

Group, Community / Clubs, Industry, Science

1 memorial
Lydia Becker

Lydia Becker

President of NUWSS prior to Millicent Fawcett and campaigned for voting rights of unmarried women and widows. Also an amateur scientist with interests in biology and astronomy. Best remembered for ...

Person, Gender Issues, Journalism / Publishing, Science

1 memorial

Previously viewed

St Matthias Church House

St Matthias Church House

E1, Chilton Street, 52, St. Matthias Church House

The names on this plaque are difficult to read so take our transcription as tentative.

1 subject commemorated, 6 creators
Edvard Grieg

Edvard Grieg

Composer. Born Edvard Hagerup Grieg in Bergen, Norway, of Scottish descent (the surname was originally Greig). He spent some years in Copenhagen and was encouraged by several young composers there....

Person, Music / songs, Denmark, Norway

1 memorial
Civilian deaths in London caused by enemy action

Civilian deaths in London caused by enemy action

This page brings together all the memorials that we have for civilians killed in London by acts of war, including terrorism. It is related to a very interesting campaign for a Citizens Memorial "to...

Group, Tragedy

109 memorials
Mujibur Rahman

Mujibur Rahman

Born Bengal. Bangladeshi politician and statesman. Father of the Bangladeshi nation, popularly known as Bangabandhu (various spellings), Bengali for "Friend of Bengal". First President of Banglade...

Person, Nationalism, Tragedy, Bengal, Indian Sub-continent

1 memorial