Some British Cement Industry Biographies

William Savidge Akerman (b 4/2/1850, Bridgwater, Somerset: d 11/1/1937, Burnham on Sea, Somerset). Son of John Board's daughter Julia. Joined the company as MD in 1871 and introduced true PC production. Remained MD until his death.

Edward James Board Akerman (b 27/1/1886, Burnham on Sea, Somerset: d 9/4/1974, Salisbury, Wiltshire). Son of W S Akerman: joined Boards 1910: took over as MD on the death of his father.

George Knox Anderson (b 6/11/1854, Faversham, Kent: d 19/3/1941, Canterbury, Kent). See the page on Hilton, Anderson & Brooks.

Harold Hilton Drew Anderson (b 13/3/1867, Westminster, Middlesex: d 7/12/1947, Folkestone, Kent). See the page on Hilton, Anderson & Brooks.

Herbert William Anderson (b 15/10/1858, Lewisham, Kent: d 8/12/1949, Folkestone, Kent). See the page on Hilton, Anderson & Brooks.

John Andrew Anderson (b 30/12/1828, Greenwich, Kent: d 21/12/1912, Faversham, Kent). See the page on Hilton, Anderson & Brooks.

William Curling Anderson (b 4/11/1832, Greenwich, Kent: d 25/3/1907, Sydenham, Kent). See the page on Hilton, Anderson & Brooks.

James Aspdin (b 23/8/1813, Leeds, WR: d 1873, Wakefield, WR). Elder son of Joseph Aspdin. Ran the Ings Road plant until it closed in 1894.

Joseph Aspdin (b 1778, Hunslet, WR: d 20/3/1855, Wakefield, WR). Patented "Portland Cement" in 1824. See page on cement.

William Aspdin (b 23/9/1815, Leeds, WR: d 11/4/1864, Itzehoe, Schleswig Holstein). Younger son of Joseph Aspdin. Developed his father's product into Portland Cement as the term is understood today, in the early 1840s. See page on cement.

Henry Kelway Gwyer Bamber (b 5/2/1864, Pinner, Middlesex: d 20/9/1924, Gravesend, Kent). His father, Henry K Bamber, was an analytical chemist. Educated at UCL and the Royal School of Mines, he then worked in his father's laboratory. In 1887 he became chemist at Dovercourt, and became chemist at Bevans in 1894. He became manager in 1896. With the formation of APCM in 1900 he was made one of the eleven managing directors. He became closely associated with H O O'Hagan. He was a key contributor to the development of the first British Standard for Portland cement in 1904. He organised the purchase and development of APCM's Bamberton plant in British Columbia. He continued as managing director after the 1919 reorganisation, but was ousted in the boardroom coup of 1924. He chaired the first International Cement Congress in that year. He had an obituary in Engineering (26/9/1924).

Albert Batchelor (b 7/7/1869, Frindsbury, Kent: d 15/1/1960, Penzance, Cornwall). Second son of George Batchelor, became manager of Crown 1900-1907. On leaving, he undertook not to work in the cement industry, but became manager of Martin Earles 1908-1911. In 1912, he established the Rochester plant, and continued to run it until the plant was taken over by Rugby in 1936.

Arthur Batchelor (b 21/6/1874, Frindsbury, Kent: d 29/9/1952, Seaford, E Sussex). Third son of George Batchelor, established a boat building business in Rochester in 1895. In partnership with E A Glover, established Lewes in 1902.

Eric Batchelor (b 23/4/1905, Brighton, E Sussex: d 1/8/1949, Weybridge, Surrey). Son of Arthur Batchelor. 1922-5 BA engineering Cambridge. 1925-8 apprentice Vickers Armstrong, Barrow. 1928-1939 Horace Boot & Partners. 1939 Manager South Ferriby. 1943 Director Eastwoods.

George Batchelor (b 6/10/1841, Chatham, Kent: d 16/8/1930, Rochester, Kent). Son of a bricklayer, worked for George Burge at Crown from 1853, and became manager 1876-1900. Developed the Batchelor kiln 1876.

Norman Molyneux Benton (b 29/11/1885, Hednesford, Staffordshire: d 8/6/1968, Cranleigh, Surrey). Son of W E Benton. Joint Chairman of Chinnor 1908-1940, and sole chairman until he retired in 1947.

William Elijah Benton (b 16/11/1855, Walsall, Staffordshire: d 13/12/1940, Chinnor, Oxfordshire) was a mining engineer. He bought the Springfield Park brickworks in Acton, Middx., and branched out as a lime merchant, setting up a lime plant at Chinnor with five beehive kilns, commencing in 1908. This followed the construction of the Acton-High Wycombe railway in 1903, allowing direct rail communication between the two sites. After WWI, in partnership with his son Norman Molyneux Benton, a cement plant was constructed and started up in 1921. This had the distinction of being the last plant to be commissioned with intermittent kilns, when most existing cement plants were demolishing their static kilns. He remained joint chairman of the company until his death.

Bertram Blount (born Blunt 26/2/1867, City of London: d 9/4/1921, Kensington, Middlesex) was a consultant chemist and drafted the first (1904) BSI cement specification. After King's College school, he studied analytical chemistry under C L Bloxam, then in 1886 he became an assistant to W Harry Stanger. From 1889 he and Stanger collaborated with Stokes (to no good effect) on the development of rotary kilns. He later became a partner in the consultancy. In 1898, he and Stanger led the British group viewing US rotary kiln operations, and he advised White's to adopt the obsolescent Hurry & Seaman model. After Stanger's death in 1903, he set up on his own. He provided technical input to the hopeless Collos slag cement project. His participation in the writing of BS12 did not prevent him from stating that ground up slag is a kind of Portland cement. His book describes the technology as it stood around the time of WWI and is authoritative (although not necessarily correct). Literally until his dying day, he maintained that cement should be made by complete liquefaction in a blast furnace. It may safely be said that, in the development of cement technology, none of his contributions were useful, and most were harmful. He was a member of the editorial board of The Engineer, and many of its articles on cement are in his florid and prolix style. He had obituaries in Nature (5/5/1921 p 306) and The Analyst (XLVI #544).

Charles Edward Blyth (b 20/12/1870, Stockton, Warwickshire: d 3/6/1940, Leamington Hastings, Warwickshire), third son of T P Blyth, became a director of Nelsons in 1894. He married Alfred Herbert's sister, Fanny, in 1901. He invented the Atritor. He was an active participant in BPCRA and was one of the few outside Blue Circle to benefit from it.

George Blackstone Blyth (b 9/4/1868, Hampstead, Middlesex: d 13/7/1950, Butlers Marston, Warwickshire), eldest son of T P Blyth, became a director of Nelsons in 1894. Managing Director 1896-1944.

Harold Francis Blyth (b 10/1/1869, Galle, Sri Lanka: d 3/3/1960, Hove, E Sussex), second son of T P Blyth, became a director of Nelsons in 1894.

Thomas Philip Blyth (b 1832, Poplar, Middlesex: d 17/6/1896, Birdingbury, Warwickshire) was a London lime merchant taken into partnership with the Nelsons of Stockton in 1870. Three of his sons became directors of the company in 1894. Managing Director of Nelsons from 1886 until his death.

John Board (b 1802, Bridgwater, Somerset: d 24/1/1861, Bridgwater, Somerset). Founder of John Board & Co.

Horace Louis Petit Boot (b 20/4/1873, Lambeth, Surrey: d 30/3/1943, Cookham, Berkshire) attended City of London School and City & Guilds Institute. After an apprenticeship with Johnson & Philips, Charlton, he became head electrical engineer for Tunbridge Wells. He established Horace Boot & Partners engineering consultancy in 1908. Became consulting engineer to Dreadnought in 1914. Also a consulting engineer to Eastwoods Ltd., he became their vice-chairman and managing director on the company's reorganisation in 1920. Sheriff of the City of London 1940-1. Knighted 1941.

Arthur William Booth (b 9/4/1861, St Pancras, Middlesex: d 31/12/1933, Cobham, Kent) was son of S B Booth.

Samuel Barker Booth (b 16/11/1822, Dedham, Essex: d 3/2/1881, Bromley, Kent) was father of A W Booth.

Robert Brearley (b 24/2/1861, Batley, WR: d 15/1/1929, Harrogate, NR) was a woollen manufacturer in Batley. In 1890, he and his elder brother Arthur were made directors of Skelsey's Adamant Cement Co. Ltd formed in that year, presumably to provide funds for development of the Barton site. On the formation of BPCM he became an ordinary director.

Edmund Wright Brooks (b 29/9/1834, Melksham, Wiltshire: d 22/6/1928, Grays, Essex). See the page on Hilton, Anderson & Brooks.

Herbert Edmund Brooks (b 8/5/1860, Surbiton, Surrey: d 13/3/1931, Stifford, Essex). See the page on Hilton, Anderson & Brooks.

William Alden Brown (b 9/1/1865, Weybridge, Surrey: d 8/8/1935, Pluckley, Kent) was a mechanical engineer and manufacturing practitioner with an unusually wide range of experience. After 17 years of Government work installing munitions, he joined APCM in 1903 and worked on the Thamesside rotary kiln installations. During 1908-1910 he was manager of a Californian plant, then 1910-1913 oversaw the rebuild of Burham. He then oversaw the building of Aberthaw before returning to armaments work in 1915. After the war, he teamed up with Henry Pooley in cement manufacturing consultancy, and supervised the construction of a plant in Mozambique. His book dates from WWI, and gives an excellent historical perspective on developments to date. His technical understanding was decidedly modern and was way ahead of that of his contemporaries.

J S Buckingham (b , , : d , , ).

George Burge Snr (b 15/8/1795, Clerkenwell, Middlesex: d 2/5/1874, Margate, Kent) was a civil engineering contractor mainly associated with railways and the development of Herne Bay, Kent. During 1827-8, he worked for Thomas Telford in the construction of St Katherines Dock. During 1831-2, he constructed Herne Bay pier in collaboration with Telford, and subsequently invested in development of the resort - he came to be known as "Burge of Herne Bay". After that, most of his work was in railways, both in Britain and abroad, working for John Rennie, but also the Box Tunnel for Brunel.

In 1850 he was approached by I C Johnson to enter partnership to construct the Crown cement plant. The partnership only lasted three years after which Johnson moved to the Cliffe Creek site. Burge put his son in charge, and continued with his railway contracting work.

George Burge jr (b 1832, Brixton, Surrey: d 28/9/1911, Herne, Kent) was a cement industry pioneer. He learned cement manufacture from I C Johnson, and was put in charge of the Crown cement plant by his father in 1853. He chose to concentrate on cement manufacture. He re-instated the failed Wouldham Court plant in 1855, but gave up on it in 1859. He sold the Crown plant to William Tingey in 1868, but collaborated with Tingey to construct new plants in the Medway area, while controlling their raw material supplies. He developed a design for a chamber kiln, probably in collaboration with Johnson, at the Crown site.

In 1872, he commenced a civil engineering consultancy partnership with F C Barron. For the next fifteen years he built aand expanded cement plants virtually on a production line basis. In 1874, in partnership with William Morgan and C R Cheffins, he established the Gillingham plant using his own chamber kiln design. In 1877, he converted the Phoenix plant for cement production. In 1880, he built the Globe plant for J C Gostling, and the Beehive plant, which he ran himself. In 1882, he and Barron built the Falcon plant. In 1884, he built the Beaver plant for Slark and Jones, and in 1885, the Bridge plant for T C Hooman & Co. Finally in 1888, he built the Quarry plant as a branch of his Gillingham company.

He gradually divested his interests in cement production, in 1887 selling his share of the Falcon plant to his partner. In 1892, he sold the Beehive plant to William Levett & Co. and the Gillingham company to White's, and retired to Herne Bay.

George Butchard (b 19/5/1838, Liverpool: d 6/8/1901, Gravesend, Kent) was a ship engineer who in 1880 bought the Tower plant, and floated the Tower Portland Cement Co. Ltd in 1881. From 1884 to 1890 he was also a director of the Shoreham Portland Cement Co. Ltd. When the Tower plant was taken over by APCM, he became a managing director, but died the following year.

David Butler Butler (b 20/4/1865, Cranbrook, Kent: d 30/9/1948, Marden, Kent: Note 1) was son of a farmer, and worked as a clerk at Hollicks in 1881. He joined Henry Faija's consultancy in 1881 as trainee, 1884 as assistant and 1887-1890 as deputy. He was Manager at Folkestone from 1888 until its closure in 1891, then was chemist at Vectis 1891-1894. He returned to the Faija consultancy as its head on Faija's death in 1894. He collaborated with William Gilbert in plant designs. His books are authoritative on the traditional British manufacturing techniques and correctly anticipated their rapid annihilation by rotary kiln technology.

Charles Townshend Casebourne (b 28/6/1836, Caledon, Co. Tyrone: d 17/5/1897, Greatham, Co. Durham). His father was a civil engineer working on the Ulster Canal, and in 1845 moved to West Hartlepool for construction of the docks. 1862 established cement plant at West Hartlepool, moved to Cliff House in 1866. Went public in 1882, and remained chairman until his death. Obituary by ICE CXXX, p 321. Also Readman and Turley.

Rowland Telford Casebourne (b 5/1877, West Hartlepool: d 2/7/1916, France). Son of C T Casebourne. 1904-1914 Manager, Billingham. Died at the Battle of the Somme.

Frank Chapman (b 1839, St Pancras, Middlesex: d 26/8/1905, Wadhurst, E Sussex) was son of a pawnbroker and became a dealer and exporter of cements brought from the Midlands by canal. He married William Tingey's daughter Isabella and in 1877 he became a director of Gillingham. With the JBW takeover in 1893, he became their export director, and assumed that role in APCM in 1900.

Walter George Chapman (b 20/8/1876, Sydenham, Kent: d 20/1/1974, Marylebone, Middlesex) was son of Frank Chapman and joined JBW in 1897. He became a director of APCM in 1910, and eventually took his father's role of export director.

Charles Charleton (b 1852, Lambeth, Surrey: d 16/12/1916, Brighton, E Sussex) was son of Edward Charleton and father of E C Charleton. He became a partner and sales manager for I C Johnson & Co. in 1883. He became vice-chairman of BPCM in 1911.

Edward Charleton (b 13/5/1799, Alnwick, Northumberland: d 8/4/1883, Lambeth, Surrey) was a member of the Newcastle Coal Exchange, involved in shipping, and engaged in partnership with I C Johnson and John Watson to operate the Gateshead plant, and later also the Greenhithe plant.

Edward Charles Charleton (b 13/10/1877, Kensington, Middlesex: d 26/12/1951, Hove, E Sussex) was son of Charles Charleston. He managed the installation of rotary kilns at Greenhithe from 1906, and became an ordinary director of BPCM in 1911.

Charles Percival Elliott Cheffins (b 3/2/1865, Hampstead, Middlesex: d 30/12/1937, Chelsea, Middlesex) was son of C R Cheffins. Manager at Gillingham, 1890-1895, then manager at Swanscombe 1895-1905.

Charles Richard Cheffins (b 22/7/1833, Holborn, Middlesex: d 2/12/1902, Gillingham, Kent) was a chemist and civil engineer and one of the founders of Gillingham, managing it until 1890. Father of C P E Cheffins.

George Cooper (b , , : d , , ) of Westons.

Walter Johnson Cooper (b 1869, Walsall, Staffordshire: d 27/5/1928, Paignton, Devon).

Octavian Julius Croft Corelli (b 8/1/1886, Hampstead, Middlesex: d 11/12/1968, Storrington, W Sussex) was son of an Italian merchant. He studied organic chemistry under Adolf Grün at Zurich. In 1914 he was chemist at Aberthaw, and in 1915 became manager. From 1920, he did analytical chemistry consultancy work in many countries. He had a laboratory in Bombay from the early 1920s until the 1950s, and provided technical management for cement plants in Gwalior and Coimbatore, India.

George Edward Wakefield Cranage (b 2/8/1862, Wellington, Shropshire: d 20/3/1934, Corbridge, Northumberland) was a schoolmaster who became manager of the Gateshead plant in 1899 and became an ordinary director of BPCM in 1911.

W M Cuningham (b 3/7/1847, Greenock, Renfrewshire: d 7/2/1924, Kensington, Middlesex) was an engineer based in St Petersburg in the 1880s. H became a director of London Portland and in 1900 became an ordinary director of APCM.

Edward Spedding Curwen (b 5/1852, Hackney, Middlesex: d 3/9/1929, Northwood, Middlesex) was from a family of stockbrokers, and on the strength of his business relationship with J W Philipps, obtained an ordinary directorship of BPCM in 1911.

Arthur Charles Davis (b 23/8/1876, Hoylake, Cheshire: d 27/10/1950, Barrington, Cambridgeshire). View his detailed biography on a separate page.

Bernard Davis (b 3/5/1908, Cambridge: d 25/5/1983, Chelsea, Middlesex). 2nd son of A C Davis. Manager, Thamesside 1939. He took over chairmanship of Atlas Stone from his uncle, F W Davis, on his retirement in 1944.

Frederick William Davis (b 3/1874, Birkenhead, Cheshire: d 3/10/1961, Worthing, W Sussex). View his detailed biography on a separate page.

Geoffrey George John Davis (b 23/5/1908, Cambridge: d 7/7/1993, Haslemere, Surrey). View his detailed biography on a separate page.

Gilbert Davis (b 2/8/1901, Cambridge: d 14/3/1973, Fen Ditton, Cambridgeshire). View his detailed biography on a separate page.

Abram Hugh Double (b 8/7/1867, Chelmondiston, E Suffolk: d 4/12/1938, Marylebone, Middlesex).

Arthur Durose (b , , : d , , ).

Edward John Vavasour Earle (b 17/9/1851, Hackney, Middlesex: d 15/11/1923, Camberwell, Surrey) was son of a travelling salesman. Early in his career he became a purveyor of high-end ladies' footwear. He gained Freedom of the City of London in 5/1892 as a Cordwainer. In 1895 he partnered with John Bean Martin and Harry Le Marchant (a friend in footware) to acquire the Wickham cement plant at Strood. Used company money to pursue various ventures, including a failed Italian copper mine, and the patents for Collos slag cement. Ousted from the company in 1909 following an auditors' investigation, he continued touting Collos until his bankruptcy, and died in poverty.

John Hudson Earle (b , , : d , , )

Oliver Lesli Ellis (b , , : d , , ).

Henry Faija (b 14/11/1844, Holborn, Middlesex: d 21/8/1894, Sunbury, Middlesex) was a civil engineer and consultant on cement technology, owning a testing house in Westminster as Henry Faija & Co. There is an extensive account of his work by Edwin Trout in Global Cement, March 2017, pp 12-19.

Benjamin Christmas Forder (b 20/12/1873, Buriton, Hampshire: d 9/4/1962, Bradford Abbas, Dorset). View his detailed biography in the Peterborough page.

Benjamin John Harfield Forder (b 3/11/1848, Winchester, Hampshire: d 2/10/1916, Blandford, Dorset). View his detailed biography in the Peterborough page.

Walter Forder (b 3/1859, Norwich: d ?) was a builder working mainly in East Anglia. He was made managing director of Dreadnought in 1914.

Alfred Francis (b 1804, Lambeth, Surrey: d 27/11/1871, Lambeth, Surrey). Second son of Charles Francis and partner in Charles Francis & Sons from 1840. The company was Francis Brothers from 1852. In 1865, he parted from his brother and formed Francis & Co. in partnership with his son P O Francis, based on the Nine Elms plant. He also commenced building a new plant at Cliffe, because the existing Nine Elms plant was due to be purchased by the Southwestern Railway. In 1868, the Phoenix Wharf became the railway wharf, and the old plant was shut down. In 1866, C E de Michele joined the partnership.

Charles Francis (b 11/1777, Lambeth, Surrey: d 10/7/1863, Lambeth, Surrey). Founder of Francis & White at Nine Elms, making Roman cement. Charles Francis & Sons from 1836. Retired 1852.

Charles Larkin Francis (b 12/1801, Lambeth, Surrey: d 3/2/1873, Westminster, Middlesex). Son of Charles Francis and partner in Charles Francis & Sons from 1836. From 1840, he developed Medina cement as a competitor of Portland cement. The company was Francis Brothers from 1852. In 1865, he parted from his brother and formed Charles Francis, Son & Co. to run the Vectis plant. Died bankrupt and intestate.

Gerald Beaufoy Francis (b 1856, Lambeth, Surrey: d 3/3/1924, Ropley, Hampshire) was the third son of Alfred Francis, from 1877 a partner in Francis & Co.

Percy Oldfield Francis (b 1847, Lambeth, Surrey: d 1/5/1927, Freshwater, Isle of Wight) was the eldest son of Alfred Francis, from 1865 a partner in Francis & Co.

William Holcombe Francis (b 31/8/1848, Lambeth, Surrey: d 17/6/1927, Lee-on-Solent, Hampshire) was the second son of Alfred Francis. He set up Empson, Holcombe & Co with Reginald Empson Middleton and V D de Michele in order to acquire and develop Johnson's plant at Cliffe Creek, before handing it over to Francis & Co.

Douglas Haliburton Gibbs (b 29/9/1863, Sewardstone, Essex: d 17/10/1945, Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire), son of W A Gibbs. He was chairman of the family cement firm 1884-1898. He was an ordinary director of APCM from 1900. While seeking trade in Mexico in 1911, he purchased the Tolteca plant (built 1909 by Louisville Cement Corp.) and became first managing director of the Tolteca Portland Cement Co. (La Tolteca Compania de Cemento Portland SA). Resigned from the Board of A/BPCM in 7/1924 "to facilitate concentration of management".

William Alfred Gibbs (b 23/10/1819, Islington, Middlesex: d 6/8/1900, Edmonton, Middlesex), together with his brother David Aspland Gibbs (1813-1898), was partner in a soap-making business at Wapping. He is credited with inventing "Gibbs Dentrifice" (Gibbs SR etc). The brothers, already in the whiting business, founded the Thames plant to make Portland cement at West Thurrock in 1872.

William Gilbert (b 1867, Billinghay, Kesteven: d 25/4/1938, Wandsworth, Surrey). View his detailed biography in the Peterborough page.

Arthur Glover (b 12/1838, Westminster, Middlesex: d 12/12/1914, Gravesend, Kent). Manager Swanscombe ?1875-?1895. Father of E A Glover.

Edward Arthur Glover (b 2/1871, Swanscombe, Kent: d 4/7/1938, Lewes, E Sussex). Son of Arthur Glover. Plant manager Quarry 1893-1901, manager Lewes 1902-1929.

Albert Younglove Gowen (b 8/5/1883, Cleveland, OH: d 6/1/1964, Bern, Switzerland). Following from involvement in the cement industry in the USA, Gowen formed the Alpha Company in the UK and in 1933/4 acquired Rodmell - this was followed by Oxford, Cliffe, Kirton Lindsey and Metropolitan. Instrumental in forming an effective Cement Makers Federation. 1936 Director Anglo-Alpha Cement Company in South Africa - 1938 A/BPCM/Tunnel take over the Alpha Company - 1940 Director A/BPCM - 1947 Resigned.

Richard Greaves (b 5/8/1802, St Albans, Hertfordshire: d 29/4/1870, Warwick) inherited his father's business as a canal carrier, railway promoter and landowner. He began quarrying and supplying Lias limestone at various points along the canal system, and in 1824 commenced burning Blue Lias lime at Wilmcote. In 1840, in partnership with J W Kirshaw, he started making artificial cement at Stockton, delivering by canal to several merchants' wharves in London. He partnered with John Coulson Bull - another railway promoter - in 1864, and commenced making Portland cement at Harbury. He was mayor of Warwick in 1857 and High Sheriff of Warwickshire in 1861. On his death, his nephew Michael Henry Lakin. became a partner, and the company became Greaves, Bull and Lakin.

John Heal (b , , : d , , ).

Ernest Frederick Hilton (b 9/1850, Faversham, Kent: d 18/2/1931, Croydon, Surrey). See the page on Hilton, Anderson & Brooks.

William Frederick Honywood Hinde (b 3/10/1861, Dawlish, Devon: d 22/1/1916, Bexhill, E Sussex).

Henry Holt (b , , : d , , ).

Henry Spence Horne (b 5/1891, Marylebone, Middlesex: d 3/7/1958, Wandsworth, Surrey) was son of an iron merchant and stockbroker, and himself became a stockbroker and company promoter. In 1901, his father called himself a cement merchant. In 1924, he launched a hostile takeover of A/BPCM using borrowed money, going bankrupt when the lenders foreclosed. During his brief period of control, there was a reorganisation of the company which remained in place after he departed. He placed his elder brother, India merchant James Allan Horne (b 21/6/1875, Waltham Abbey, Essex: d 3/2/1944, Westminster, Middlesex) on the board. For his subsequent activities and third bankruptcy, see Red Triangle.

A J Jack (b , , : d , , ).

Isaac Charles Johnson (b 28/1/1811, Battersea, Surrey: d 29/11/1911, Gravesend, Kent) was one of the cement industry's most important pioneers. He wrote much autobiographic material, which formed the basis of a chapter of A. J. Francis' book. As with O'Hagan, the relative abundance of self-promoting autobiographical material has tended to give an exaggerated impression of his importance.

He was the son of a labourer at Francis & White's Nine Elms (Battersea) Roman Cement plant. His formal education was minimal and his literacy and numeracy were largely the result of his innate intelligence and application. He was apprenticed in carpentry 1828-33 and learned technical drawing. He gained experience in many aspects of the building industry, including periods working at the cement plant. His father obtained for him an introduction to John Bazley White, who was sufficiently impressed to take him on as plant manager at the Swanscombe plant in 1838. There, around 1842, he was charged with emulating the Portland cement that William Aspdin had introduced at Rotherhithe in 1841. An attempt was made to buy the technology from the secretive Aspdin, but this was rebuffed, and Johnson rashly claimed that he could "work it out for himself". Johnson took three years to do this (see invention account), but eventually founded a production facility for the product that became Britain's largest, from which grew Blue Circle. The chatty openness with which Johnson described this early work - in distinct contrast with William Aspdin's paranoid secrecy - allowed him to make an unchallenged claim that he was the "inventor" of "true Portland cement".

He left JBW in 1851 and established plants in his own right. At Frindsbury (1851), he established the first on the Medway in collaboration with George Burge, who went on to construct many more plants on the Medway. In 1854 he set up Cliffe Creek (1854) in partnership with local builder John Osmotherly (1799-1871).

In 1855, he was invited by George Thirkeld Gibson (b 28/8/1801, Newcastle: d 25/3/1874, Gateshead), solicitor and freeholder of the Gateshead plant on lease to William Aspdin, to consult on the efficiency of the plant, with a view to cancelling the lease. Aspdin went bankrupt on 17/4/1855, and the plant shut down. Gibson had contacts with London-based Tyne coal merchants Edward Charleton and John Watson (Note 2), and set up a partnership between them, Johnson, Edward Morris (?-?) and his cousin Thomas Cumming Gibson (b 31/3/1800, Newcastle: d 22/12/1870, Hammersmith, Middlesex) as I C Johnson & Co. This bought the Cliffe plant and re-started the Gateshead plant in October 1856. Johnson re-located to Tyneside for the next 25 years, becoming Liberal Mayor of Gateshead, and concentrated his efforts on developing the Johnson Chamber Kiln there, with a patent May 1872. The Gateshead plant grew fairly large by the standards of the day, growing from Aspdin's 15 kilns to 40, and its initial raw material - waste chalk ballast - soon ran out. Johnson then sourced a reliable chalk supply in Kent, eventually buying the quarry at Stone, and using Tyne coal ships to bring the chalk as a "return load".

The logic of making clinker at the chalk source soon became unanswerable, and he decided to build a plant at Greenhithe. Sensibly, he reasoned that the new plant should be large from the outset, and incorporate all the best practices that he had absorbed in his long career. The result was the Greenhithe plant which opened in 1877. Johnson, at age 70, moved back to the Thames and ran his business from there for the rest of his life. From 1880, he gradually relinquished his participation in the business to his Gateshead business associates and their descendants. The Gateshead plant was managed by John Watson jr, the Greenhithe plant by Charles Watson, and Charles Charleton managed the London sales office. His own children were not interested in the business; his eldest dissipated his fortune as a big game hunter. In his later years, he took up cycling and photography, and continued proselytising for tee-totalism and alcohol prohibition.

He has a large, and characteristically inaccurate, Wikipedia article (I will not link to this rubbish) and a substantial entry in the Dictionary of National Biography, based largely on Francis' account, which in turn was largely based on his autobiography. The latter he wrote up to about 1880; it was brought up to date by his daughter, and published after his death: Autobiography of Isaac Charles Johnson Esq, JP, Farncombe & Sons, 1912. See also his 100th birthday.

Arthur James Keeble (b 3/1857, Heston, Middlesex: d 22/9/1914, Wereham, Norfolk). View his detailed biography in the Peterborough page.

George Hedley Keeble (b 1/1854, Heston, Middlesex: d 5/12/1928, Peterborough). View his detailed biography in the Peterborough page.

Edwin West Killick (b 1/10/1836, Deptford, Surrey: d 27/3/1923, Northfleet, Kent) was son of a Deptford oyster dealer. He joined Robins as a bricklayer in 1859; by 1871 he was foreman and by 1891 he was manager - he retired at the APCM takeover in 1900. He devised a kiln similar to the Gibbons kilns in use at Robins.

Michael Henry Lakin (b 7/10/1846, Malvern, Worcestershire: d 21/3/1931, Warwick) was Richard Greaves' nephew, and became a partner in Greaves, Bull & Lakin in 1870, inheriting much of his uncle's estate. He was High Sheriff of Warwickshire in 1899 and Mayor of Warwick 1902-5. He was made baronet in 1909. His son, Richard (30/5/1873-14/2/1955), collaborated with Henry Horne in the formation of the Red Triangle group.

James Lark (b , , : d , , ).

G M R Layton (b , , : d , , ).

H Le Marchant (b , , : d , , ).

Geoffrey Martin (b 29/1/1881, Dover, Kent: d 6/3/1966, Wembley, Middlesex) was an authority on industrial chemistry. He was the son of a Royal Artillery officer and was born in Dover on the family's return from India. They moved immediately to Milford Haven, and he attended Haverfordwest grammar school. The family moved to Bristol where he attended the Merchant Venturers' Technical College (in 1909 merged into the University of Bristol), and received a BSc (ex University of London) in 1901. During 1901-1906 he attended the Universities of Berlin and Kiel. During 1907-1910 he studied organosilicon chemistry at Nottingham. During 1910-1915 he lectured at Birkbeck College and received a DSc. During 1915-1917 he worked in research for various chemical companies, and from 1917 to 1921 he was Director of research and quality control for CWS, Manchester.

On 22/5/1921, he took up the position of Research Director of the British Portland Cement Research Association. "Residential quarters" had been provided at Rosherville Court for him, and he was living there at the 1921 census on 19th June. The Association immediately underwent a severe shrinkage of its physical workload, and was wound up on 31/1/1925. He then set up a consultancy - Martin & Taylor Ltd - and Asheham Cement & Lime Co., set up with the aid of Percy Girouard of Armstrong Whitworth to build a gas-suspension cement kiln - a project so wildly absurd that it is clear that he learned nothing during his short stay in the cement industry. This occupied him until the mid-1930s, after which he did little more, and he retired in 1938.

In view of the fact that he was a much better-qualified chemist than any other in the cement industry at the time, he might have made a useful contribution. However, he was working at a time when clinker mineralogy and thermodynamics were not yet understood, and his poor grasp of thermodynamics prevented any advance on that front. He wrote The Theory of the Rotary Cement Kiln (British Portland Cement Research Association, 1925) and Chemical Engineering and Thermodynamics applied to the Cement Rotary Kiln (Crosby, Lockwood & Son, 1932). These writings came to be regarded as something of a Bible by some, while others thought that he was an embodiment of the dictum that "in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king". Many of his misunderstandings of the cement making process continued to infect thinking in the English-speaking world for the rest of the century.

He published many text books on other areas of practical and industrial chemistry during 1900-1932. Many of these went on into later editions, although revised by others.

George Vincent Maxted (b 30/8/1859, Eastling, Kent: d 27/10/1944, Barnet, Hertfordshire).

Charles Eastland de Michele (b 27/2/1809, : d 19/2/1898, ) had been editor/co-owner of the Morning Post and was British Consul in St Petersburg for most of 1849 to 1866. On returning from Russia, in 1868, he became a partner in Francis & Co. and with the death of Alfred Francis in 1871, became senior partner.

Vitale Domenico de Michele (b 11/11/1848, Westminster, Middlesex: d 21/3/1906, Rochester, Kent) was son of C E de Michele. His great-grandfather had been born in Italy. His many siblings had very conventional English names, and his own names were presumably the result of the effusion of Italian nationalist sentiment that occurred during the year of his birth. Following education at Westminster, he was in 1865 apprenticed in engineering with Robert Stephenson at Newcastle-on-Tyne. When his father became a partner in Francis & Co., he was brought back (reluctantly) to manage the Nine Elms plant. He was accompanied in his move from Newcastle by another Stephenson alumnus - R E Middleton. In 1871 he became junior partner. While continuing to manage the plant, he and Middleton also established in 1876 a private consultancy, working from an office in Westminster. With Middleton and W H Francis, he set up "Empson, Holcombe & Co" as a ghost company to independently acquire and develop I C Johnson's part of the Cliffe site. After amalgamation of this, the Nine Elms plant and Johnson's Quarry plant in 1886, he managed the whole site. When Francis & Co sold out to APCM in 1900, he "severed connection" with the cement industry, although he participated in the committee that produced the British Standard Specification for Portland cement - BS12: 1904.

Reginald Empson Middleton (b 1844, St Bees, Cumberland: d 1/7/1925, ). Educated at Charterhouse, he became an apprentice at Robert Stephenson, Newcastle, in the company of V D de Michele, with whom he then moved to Cliffe. Set up Empson, Holcombe & Co. with William Holcombe Francis and V D de Michele.

William Morgan (b , , : d 1909, , ) was a partner in the Gillingham Portland Cement Co., and subsequently a director of White's and a managing director of APCM.

Henry Osborne O'Hagan (b 13/3/1853, Blackburn, Lancashire: d 3/5/1930, Roquebrune, Alpes-Maritimes). View his detailed biography on a separate page.

Weetman Dickenson Pearson (b 15/7/1856, Kirkburton, WR: d 13/5/1927, Echt, Aberdeenshire). S Pearson & Son was a firm of building contractors formed in Yorkshire by Samuel Pearson (1814-1884). He took his son George Asquith Pearson (1834-1899) into partnership. George's son Weetman was privately educated and left school in 1872 to join the family firm as an apprentice. In 1875 he was sent to the USA to find business opportunities for the company. This led to a large amount of new work. In 1879 Samuel retired and passed his partnership to Weetman, at which point Weetman became the driving force of the firm, moving the headquarters to London in 1884. There followed massive expansion throughout Britain and overseas, with the firm specialising in large construction projects - railways, docks, bridges and tunnels, for example the Blackwall Tunnel (1892-97) and the first five of many rail tunnels under the Hudson and East Rivers in New York City (1888-1910).

Weetman became a baronet in 1894. He attempted and failed to get into parliament for Colchester in 1892, but won it as a Liberal in 1895, holding it until he was elevated to the Lords in 1910. He was on the radical wing of the Liberals, campaigning for votes for women, old age pensions and Home Rule for Ireland.

Projects such as the construction of the Grand Canal draining the valley in Mexico City led to close ties with Mexico, and expansion into oil prospecting. This eventually became very lucrative. In view of his patchy attendance in Parliament, Pearson became known as "the honourable member for Mexico". The Mexican oil business was sold to Shell - as Shell-Mex - in 1919. In Britain, the firm took on the construction of the naval dockyard at Dover, necessitating brief entry into the cement industry at Wouldham. During WWI he was co-opted as president of the Air Board. He was made a Viscount in 1917.

After the war, the company continued to expand into a vast horizontally integrated conglomerate, expanding particularly into publishing, which is the main activity of the successor company today. Weetman Pearson has a substantial entry in the Dictionary of National Biography, and a range of Wikipedia articles.

John Wynford Philipps (b 30/5/1860, Warminster, Wiltshire: d 28/3/1938). He was thirteenth baronet of his line and was adequately educated, getting a third from Keble. His prospects received a huge boost when he married into money. He had been Liberal MP for Mid Lanarkshire 1888-1894, and for Pembrokeshire 1898-1908, after which he was elevated to the Lords. As an MP, he has a minimal Wikipedia entry. From 1890, he was involved in a number of investment trusts, particularly interested in shipping and railways internationally. As a member of the 69 Old Broad Street Group of promoters, he provided the capital for the formation of BPCM and became its first chairman 1911-13. He has a substantial entry in the Dictionary of National Biography

J F Plaister (b , , : d , , ).

Richard Plews (b , , : d , , ).

Henry Pooley (b 13/8/1892, Liscard, Cheshire; d 24/10/1964.) was initially apprenticed to the family firm making weighing machines before taking a degree in Engineering at Bristol. He joined forces with William Alden Brown in the construction of a cement plant in Mozambique (1922-1924). He then set up on his own, and set up Green Island (Hong Kong) in 1926. He was consultant for Coltness 1933-1935 and later set up Metropolitan, as well as many overseas projects. He continued Brown's association with Aberthaw and Rhoose, and specialised in dust precipitator installation.

C Fielder Price (b , , : d , , ).

Robert Robertson (b , , : d , , ).

Edwin Robson (b , , : d , , ).

Walter Francis Roch (b 20/1/1880, Llanboidy, Carmarthenshire: d 3/5/1965, Llanarth, Monmouthshire) was elected Liberal MP for Pembrokeshire in the 1908 by-election following John Wynford Philipps' elevation to the peerage. Solely by virtue of this, he became an ordinary director of APCM in 1911. He was finally ousted in 1924.

G B Ruck-Keene (b , , : d , , ).

Leslie G Shadbolt (b , , : d , , ).

Andrew Armstrong Short (b 26/4/1883, Newcastle on Tyne: d 23/12/1948, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire) was a draughtsman in many roles including 1908-1912 for Edgar Allen. 1919-1924 chief engineer at Rhoose and from 1924 manager at Chinnor. Became managing director in 1940.

John Lamb Spoor (b 9/1856, Swalwell, Co Durham: d 3/3/1918, Strood, Kent) was an autodidact of lowly origins whose potential was recognised by Isaac Charles Johnson - a man of similar background. He was born in Swalwell, a few miles west of Gateshead. His immediate relatives were blacksmiths associated with the local iron works. He entered employment with I C Johnson & Co. around 1873. He moved to Cliffe, Kent in 1877 to supervise the commissioning of chamber kilns there and at Greenhithe. Around 1889 he left Johnsons and set up on his own, constructing the Borstal Manor plant. He ran out of money before the plant was complete. His mortgagees foreclosed, and he went bankrupt 26/10/1894. According to Francis, he went to India and supervised erection of works at Madras and Bangalore and after four years had made sufficient money to return to this country and pay his creditors in full. (This would have been 1898.) He then returned to India and erected his own works in Calcutta, finally coming back to this country in 1902. The London Gazette says his bankruptcy was annulled on 29/12/1899. On his return, he set up as a consultant, and supervised, among other things, the building of Cousland and Kirtlington and the rebuilding of Lyme Regis, while continuing to live in Strood, Kent. He was a Kent County Councillor. He died in 1918 and was buried in Cliffe churchyard.

William Harry Stanger (b 24/9/1847, Pietermaritzburg, Natal: d 13/2/1903, Kensington, Middlesex)> founded a respected independent testing works and laboratory. His father was Surveyor-General for Natal, and returned to England in 1851. He attended King's College, London and had apprenticeships in railway engineering. In 1870, he became an army trainer in traction engine driving, then got experience in Brazil in the same field. In 1873 he became engineering clerk for the Crown Agents for the Colonies, and shortly afterwards set up as an independent inspector for government materiel. In 1886, he took on Bertram Blount to do chemical analysis, and in 1887 set up his test house in Broadway, Westminster. The testing of cement became a speciality, done for both government and outside customers. Stanger & Blount were consulted in 1894 to resolve the controversy surrounding the use of adulterants in cement and their conclusion that they afforded no benefit was accepted by the industry and written into the 1904 Standard. In 1898 they visited US plants and prepared their report on rotary kilns. On his death in 1903, Stanger received a substantial ICE obituary.

Ferdinand Charles Stanley (b 28/1/1871, Marylebone, Middlesex: d 17/3/1935, , ) was made chairman of APCM 1911-1924 as a condition of the financing of the formation of BPCM. He was vice-chairman of BPCM 1911-1913 and chairman of BPCM 1913-1924.

Halley Stewart (b 18/1/1838, Barnet, Hertfordshire: d 26/1/1937, Harpenden, Hertfordshire). View his detailed biography in the Peterborough page.

Percy Malcolm Stewart (b 9/5/1872, Hastings, East Sussex: d 27/2/1951, Sandy, Bedfordshire). View his detailed biography in the Peterborough page.

Robert Curling Styles (b 21/11/1872, Swanscombe, Kent: d 29/10/1913, Chigwell, Essex) was the son of the farmer at Knockholt, and studied analytical chemistry, becoming works chemist at Swanscombe in the 1890s.

William Tingey Snr (b 1/1821, Downham, Isle of Ely: d 22/8/1907, Gravesend, Kent).

William Harold Tingey (b 10/9/1845, Westminster, Middlesex: d 8/7/1925, Rochester, Kent), son of W Tingey Snr became a partner in William Tingey & Son in 1866, and they purchased the Crown plant from George Burge Jr. He and George Burge Jr acquired most of the chalk land on the Frindsbury peninsula, as well as lands in Gillingham and above the bridge, and formed the Rochester Chalk Co. to quarry it and supply to the surrounding plants. In 1896, he consulted H O O'Hagan about a public flotation, which did not happen, but set in train the sequence of events which led to the formation of APCM in 1900. He became an ordinary director of the new company.

Alfred Tolhurst (b 1834, Sedlescombe, East Sussex: d 12/1/1913, Edenbridge, Kent). Son of a farm labourer, he commenced work as a solicitor's clerk in Gravesend in 1850 and became a solicitor in 1865. He developed a large legal partnership, and put the profits into land and property. In 1893 he bought the Rosher quarry lands, initially selling ballast chalk. In 1896 he set up his cement plant, while still selling commercial chalk. He sold out to BPCM in 1911.

Philip Walmesley Tolhurst (b 13/12/1874, Northfleet, Kent: d 25/5/1922, Gravesend, Kent). Son of Alfred Tolhurst. A graduate civil engineer. Participated in the foundation of the Aberthaw company in 1912.

Adolphus Octavius Trechmann (b 1867, : d 30/1/1948, ). Youngest son of P O E Trechmann. Trechmann Weekes. 1911 director BPCM.

Carl Otto Trechmann (b 19/3/1851, : d 29/6/1917, ). Son of P O E Trechmann. Manager Warren.

Charles Taylor Trechmann (b 1885, : d 1964, ). Son of C O Trechmann

Otto Kramer Trechmann (b 1854, : d 14/1/1917, ). Son of P O E Trechmann. Clerk then Sales Manager Warren

Peter Otto Eduard Trechmann (b 1820, : d 0, ).

Thomas Hutchinson Tristram (b 24/9/1825, Eglingham, Northumberland: d 8/3/1912, Hampton, Middlesex). Member of the extinct College of Doctors of Law. Chancellor of dioceses of London, Chichester, Hereford, Ripon and Wakefield. Stood for parliament as Tory for Hartlepool 1880. Came third. 1882-1897 director of Casebournes. 1897-1912 Chairman.

Francis Thomas Tristram (b 19/10/1864, City of London: d 2/3/1953, Nice, Alpes-Maritimes). Son of T H Tristram. 1897-1914 MD of Casebournes.

Henry Turvey (b , , : d , , ).

W H Wall (b , , : d , , ).

Charles Hubback Watson (b 25/8/1852, Newcastle-on-Tyne: d 6/8/1934, Sidmouth, Devon) was nephew of John Watson I and younger brother of John Watson II. He moved to Greenhithe with Johnson in 1877, and became manager shortly afterwards. He became an managing director of BPCM in 1911.

John Watson I (b 1/3/1805, Wallsend, Northumberland: d 23/1/1871, Lambeth, Surrey) was a member of the Newcastle Coal Exchange, involved in shipping, and engaged in partnership with I C Johnson and Edward Charleton to operate the Gateshead plant.

John Watson II (b 1843, Hartlepool, Co Durham: d 3/7/1918, Cambridge) was nephew of John Watson I and elder brother of C H Watson. When Johnson moved to Gravesend in 1877, he took over management of the Gateshead plant. He retired in 1899, handing over his role to G E W Cranage. He donated the John Watson Building Stone Collection to the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences at Cambridge.

Frederick Anthony White I (b 18/2/1842, Westminster, Middlesex: d 23/11/1933, Kensington, Middlesex). See Whites page.

George Frederick White (b 24/12/1816, Battersea, Surrey: d 11/8/1898, Wimborne, Dorset). See Whites page.

John Bazley White I (b 7/10/1784, Stepney, Middlesex: d 22/10/1867, Kidbooke, Kent). See Whites page.

John Bazley White II (b 23/4/1814, Battersea, Surrey: d 9/3/1893, Newton Abbot, Devon). See Whites page.

John Bazley White III (b 18/4/1848, Clapham, Surrey: d 9/2/1927, Hove, East Sussex). See Whites page.

Leedham White (b 8/7/1838, Westminster, Middlesex: d 26/1/1905, Kensington, Middlesex). See Whites page.

Tyndale White (b 1849, Newington, Surrey: d 27/11/1927, Ongar, Essex). See Whites page.

Frank Willan (b , , : d , , ).

NOTES