Prentice Brothers Limited was an English

fertiliser A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrition, plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from Liming (soil), liming materials or other non- ...

manufacturer founded in

Stowmarket Stowmarket ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England,OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton A2 edition. Publishing Date:2008. o ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

during the mid-1850s. The company produced a number of " chemical manure" products that used

coprolite A coprolite (also known as a coprolith) is fossilized feces. Coprolites are classified as trace fossils as opposed to body fossils, as they give evidence for the animal's behaviour (in this case, diet) rather than morphology. The name ...

s and

rock phosphate Phosphorite, phosphate rock or rock phosphate is a non- detrital sedimentary rock that contains high amounts of phosphate minerals. The phosphate content of phosphorite (or grade of phosphate rock) varies greatly, from 4% to 20% phosphorus pentox ...

s among other ingredients.

History

The Prentice family was prominent in Stowmarket at the time and operated a number of other businesses including a

gasworks A gasworks or gas house is an industrial plant for the production of flammable gas. Many of these have been made redundant in the developed world by the use of natural gas, though they are still used for storage space. Early gasworks Coal ...

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

and

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

maltster Malting is the process of steeping, Germination, germinating, and drying grain to convert it into malt. Germination and sprouting involve a number of enzymes to produce the changes from seed to seedling and the malt producer stops this stage of t ...

s and a Guncotton Company. The fertiliser business was founded by Thomas Prentice and by 1866 was being run by his brothers, Eustace and Edward. Manning Prentice joined the business in 1871 after Edward was killed in the nearby Guncotton explosion. Manning Prentice developed patented techniques and processes around acids. In 1922 a fire destroyed part of the works and needed to be rebuilt, and the 1920s was a problematic period for the industry partly due to falling demand. In 1929 the company merged with Packard and James Fison (Thetford) Limited whose company was subsequently renamed to Fison, Packard & Prentice, Limited. The Prentice and Fison families had previously been joined by the marriage. That company then formally changed its name to the shorter

Fisons Fisons plc was a British Multinational corporation, multinational pharmaceutical, scientific instruments and horticultural chemicals company headquartered in Ipswich, United Kingdom. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a cons ...

Ltd in 1942.Early history of the company to 1960
at UK Competition Commission, 1960. (PDF) Accessed September 2007 The Food Museum has a number of items from the company including a coprolite grinding stone apparently used by the company.

Location

The Prentice Chemical Works was located on the eastern side of the railway line approaching to

Stowmarket railway station Stowmarket railway station is a stop on the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML) in the East of England, serving the market town of Stowmarket, Suffolk. The station is down the line from London Liverpool Street; it is situated between to the south ...

. The business made use of the railway to transport its goods. Today, the area is occupied by the Tomo Industrial Estate.

References

{{coord, 52.186590, 1.004999, region:GB, display=title Sanofi Companies based in Suffolk Chemical companies of the United Kingdom 1843 establishments in England British companies disestablished in 1929 Defunct companies of England British companies established in 1856

History

Location

See also

References