John Bennet Lawes and Co
John Bennet Lawes & Co
Established by John Bennet Lawes
1843 John Bennet Lawes established Lawes’ Artificial Manure Co. at Deptford Creek, to exploit the sulphuric acid process to make superphosphate fertilizer by processing phosphate-rich materials (bones, Peruvian guano, phosphate rock, and coprolites), which Lawes had developed and patented in 1842 (Patent No. 9353).
Note: The use of sulphuric acid for this process was suggested by Justus von Liebig, and was tried by Lawes, who applied it in 1843 to produce superphosphate in Deptford, whence the manufacture spread throughout the world [1]
1857 Opened a second factory on 98 acres of marshland at Barking Creek.
1867 Bought the insolvent Atlas Chemical Works at Millwall (which produced tartaric and citric acid). It seems that this part of the business may have been continued as John Bennett, Lawes and Co or John Bennet Lawes and Co (of Mincing Lane).
1872 John Lawes sold the John Bennet Lawes and Co. company, which was renamed Lawes’ Chemical Manure Co Ltd. J B Lawes stayed on as a consultant. William Colchester, a former competitor and one of the investors, became Chairman.
See Timeline - Sir John Bennet Lawes[2] and Poozeum website.