Isaac Reckitt
1792 Isaac Reckitt was born, the fifth of thirteen children.
He established two businesses, both of which failed.
1819 Isaac and his brother Thomas, established a corn milling business in Lincolnshire.
1840 He borrowed money from his relatives and with it rented (then purchased eight years later) a starch factory in Hull. His first business card simply read "Isaac Reckitt Starch Manufacturer - late Middleton" for he had purchased the business from Charles Middleton. The business was to become Reckitt and Colman.
The factory was situated in Dansom Lane, still the location of the company's U.K. pharmaceuticals factory and its main U.K. office.
There was no development in the business until his four sons became old enough to help. From this point on the business was known as Reckitt and Sons.
Isaac's son, Frederick, become the company's first chemist and another son, George, its first salesman.
1862 Isaac died
After Isaac's death, James Reckitt and two of his brothers carried on their father's business as a partnership.
Isaac's sons George Reckitt and his two younger brothers, Francis and James (later Sir James) Reckitt, inherited the business. George realized his share after a disagreement and went into insurance, a venture that failed, and returned to the company as manager of the London office by 1870. One of his son's was Albert Leopold Reckitt who also went into the London office and eventually became chairman of Reckitt and Colman.
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