HENRY DEACON 169 



busy minds there were none more keenly 

 interested in every thing that was going forward 

 than Henry Deacon. He did not underrate 

 the importance of having capable and highly- 

 trained men in his laboratory ; to him a 

 chemist was not merely a man " who could 

 wash out bottles ; " and he was able to under- 

 stand and appreciate their labours and worth. 

 In laying out works and erecting plant there 

 was no one in Widnes who had received such 

 a training as he had. His experience at 

 Patricroft and St. Helens had fitted him to 

 manage men, and in all that pertained to 

 business, he was discerning, courageous, and 

 accurate. 



Like his friend and neighbour, William 

 Gossage, he frequently availed himself of the 

 Patent Laws. As we have already stated, it 

 was in 1853 tnat Deacon, in conjunction with 

 Mr. William Pilkington, took land at Widnes 

 and erected works to make carbonate of soda. 

 They attacked the Dyar and Hemming 

 ammonia soda process. 



Harrison Grey Dyar and John Hemming. 

 of London, patented their process on the 3Oth 

 June, 1838. Delaunay, acting as their agent 

 in France, took it out in that country on the 

 2;th May, 1839, and on the i8th May, 1840, 



