Frederick Edward Walton (13 March 183416 May 1928), was an English manufacturer and inventor whose invention of
Linoleum
Linoleum, sometimes shortened to lino, is a floor covering made from materials such as solidified linseed oil (linoxyn), pine resin, ground cork dust, sawdust, and mineral fillers such as calcium carbonate, most commonly on a burlap or canva ...
in
Chiswick
Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and F ...
was patented in 1863.
He also invented
Lincrusta in 1877.
Early life
Walton was born in 1834, near
Halifax. His father
James Walton was a successful inventor and business owner from
Haughton Dale near Manchester, where he owned the Haughton Dale Mill, which supplied wire for James's successful
carding
Carding is a mechanical process that disentangles, cleans and intermixes fibres to produce a continuous web or sliver suitable for subsequent processing. This is achieved by passing the fibres between differentially moving surfaces covered with ...
business. Frederick was educated at Horton School, in
Bradford
Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
and at the Wakefield Proprietary School.
Waltons and Sons
In 1855, Frederick joined his father James and brother William in the family wire card-making business of Walton and Sons, in Haughton Dale. He spent much of his time working on new techniques for the business. In 1856, he was granted his first patent for wire brushes with ornamental backings. In 1857, he discovered how to solidify
linseed oil
Linseed oil, also known as flaxseed oil or flax oil (in its edible form), is a colourless to yellowish oil obtained from the dried, ripened seeds of the flax plant (''Linum usitatissimum''). The oil is obtained by pressing, sometimes followed by ...
, which was to lead to his most famous invention. However he also disagreed with his father about the value of his experimentation. Later in 1857, they dissolved the partnership and Frederick moved to
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London ...
, where he set up his own company to continue his work.
[
]
Invention of Linoleum
In 1860, he established an experimental factory in Chiswick where he worked on oxidisation of linseed oil, for which he was granted a patent in 1860.[ He experimented with the oxidized oil as a replacement for ]rubber
Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...
. He discovered that combining the oil with cork and colouring agents produced a useful material for floor covering,[ and in 1863 patented this new material.][ Walton called this new cloth "linoleum".][ He moved his factory to Staines, and in 1864, formed the Linoleum Manufacturing Company which, by 1869, was exporting to Europe and the United States.
]
Expansion to America
In the 1870s, Walton partnered with carpet manufacturer John Crossley to form the American Linoleum Company. They set up a factory at Linoleumville, New York
Travis is a residential and industrial neighborhood in west-central Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City.
It is bounded on the north by Meredith Avenue and Victory Boulevard, on the east by the William T. Davis Wildlife Refu ...
to manufacture linoleum. Walton spent two years in America setting up the factory and starting the business, before returning to the United Kingdom. The America company was highly successful and profitable.[
]
Patents
Walton obtained further patents for processes related to the production of linoleum. In 1863, he patented a method of passing sheets of coloured linoleum through rollers to emboss a pattern on them. In 1882, he patented machinery to make inlaid mosaic floor coverings. He also invented a number of related products, most notably Lincrusta, an embossed wall-covering based on linoleum, launched in 1877.[ In all he obtained over 100 patents.][
]
Cwmllecoediog
In 1868, Walton moved to the Cwmllecoediog Estate near Aberangell
Aberangell () is a village in Gwynedd, Wales.
Geography
Aberangell stands at the confluence of the Afon Angell and the Afon Dyfi, and lies within Dinas Mawddwy community. On the north side of the village, the long ridge of Pen y Clipau runs do ...
, which was owned by his father. In 1870, he built a new house there, Plas Cwmllecoediog, and in 1883 he gave land and funds to build a school in the village. In 1886, he partnered with quarry manager Edward Hurst Davies to purchased and develop Maesygamfa slate quarry. They ran it together until the partnership was dissolved in 1900.
Death
Walton died in May 1928, aged 94.
Personal life
In 1867, Walton married Alice Scruby. They had four children:
* Olive Mary Walton. Born 1871. Author and Photographer. Married Herbert Vivian
Herbert Vivian (3 April 1865 – 18 April 1940) was an English journalist, author and newspaper owner, who befriended Lord Randolph Churchill, Charles Russell, Leopold Maxse and others in the 1880s. He campaigned for Irish Home Rule and was p ...
in 1897.
* Frederick James Walton, born 1877.[
* Clarice Walton, born 1879.]
Books
*
*
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walton, Frederick
1834 births
1928 deaths
English businesspeople
English inventors
People from Sowerby Bridge