Entrepreneurial Ventures in Chemistry: The Muspratts of Liverpool, 1793-1934

Dr Peter Reed

Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., Oct 28, 2015 - History - 328 pages

Associated principally with the development of the chemical industry in Liverpool - James Muspratt (1793-1884) was the first person to make alkali on a large scale using the Leblanc Process - the three generations of the family also contributed to wider Victorian and Edwardian culture through their interests in politics, education, art, literature and theatre. This is the first study to present the history of the Muspratts as a family group and to consider the entrepreneurial spirit they brought to chemical manufacture in Britain and to their many other ventures.

Contents

• introduction family firms and Entrepreneurship: 1
• James muspratt and the Early years 17931822: 11
• Entrepreneurial spirit to the fore and overseas Disputes: 37
• Gentrification with seaforth hall and Conflict in the north: 55
• Business Expansion and Changes in leadership 18521870: 87
• Causing a nuisance The monster nuisance of all: 111
• The muspratts and advancements in Education: 129
• sheridans pursuit of Chemistry: 153
• patronage of the arts: 177
• Business uncertainty and the united alkali Company: 197
• political aspirations and Civic responsibilities: 221
• innovation War and further Business rationalization: 253
• End of a Dynasty 19261934: 275
• The muspratt legacy and the Epilogue: 289
• Muspratt Bibliography: 295
• General Bibliography 301: 301
• Index: 313

About the author

An independent historian, Peter Reed has written and spoken widely on nineteenth-century science and technology, in particular chemistry, chemical technology, the environment and early chemical dictionaries. It was while working for National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside that his interest in industrial archaeology and history began. He is an active member of the Royal Society of Chemistry Historical Group, Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry and Newcomen Society. His book Acid Rain and the Rise of the Environmental Chemist in Nineteenth-Century Britain: The Life and Work of Robert Angus Smith was published with Ashgate in 2014.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Entrepreneurial Ventures in Chemistry: The Muspratts of Liverpool, 1793-1934; Science, Technology and Culture, 1700–1945
• Author: Dr Peter Reed
• Edition: illustrated, revised
• Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2015
• ISBN: 1472449789, 9781472449788
• Length: 328 pages
• Subjects: History / Europe / Great Britain; History / Modern / 19th Century; History / Modern / General; Science / History