A HISTORY OF SURREY 



as cloth oil, became, and continues to be, an 

 important article of commerce. The medi- 

 cinal virtues of glycerine were not realized 

 until Mr. G. F. Wilson's valuable discoveries, 

 made in 1854, of separating it ftom fats and 

 oils by means of steam at a high temperature 

 and of purifying it by distillation in an at- 

 mosphere of steam. By this means he pro- 

 duced for the first time a pure article, and 

 although glycerine is now made very generally 

 by others it still remains one of the important 

 productions of Price's Company. 



The company's lubricating oil department 

 originated in the need for an outlet for the 

 liquid fats obtained when tallow, cocoa-nut 

 oil, etc., in their natural state were separated 

 into their solid and liquid constituents. In 

 course of time the mineral lubricating oils 

 appeared, and since then the blending of these 

 with fatty oils, a work requiring considerable 

 experience both of machinery and of lubri- 

 cants, has been taken in hand, and all grades 

 of lubricating oils, from sewing machine and 

 spindle oils to heavy engine and cylinder oils, 

 are now supplied by the company. Soap 

 making was first taken up by the company 

 in 1854 and the business so developed until 

 in course of time they became makers of all 

 kinds of household, mill, laundry and disin- 

 fecting (carbolic) soaps, and eventually of 

 toilet soaps. 



The company's predecessors, Messrs. Ed- 

 ward Price & Co., began operations at the 

 Belmont Works, Vauxhall, where the com- 

 pany's factory remained until 1864, when the 

 premises were acquired by the Phoenix Gas 

 Company. In 1843 a little factory was 

 leased at Battersea, the freehold being after- 

 wards purchased, on land which covered the 

 site of York House, which we have elsewhere 

 noticed as the seat of the manufacture of 

 Battersea enamels. The company erected 

 here their Sherwood factory for the purpose 

 of carrying on the new distillation process of 

 manufacturing fatty acids. 



The premises were enlarged by gradual pur- 

 chases of additional land, and now the ' Belmont 

 Worb, Battersea,' cover an area of eleven acres, 

 with an excellent river and road frontage of 287 

 yards and 329 yards respectively, and are rendered 

 still more valuable by possessing a navigable creek, 

 which runs from the Thames close up to the road 

 fitjnuge, and nearly bisects the property. The 

 Company's London property was added to in 

 1889, by the purchase of about an acre of river- 

 side land about 250 yards higher up the Thames 

 than the Behnont Works, and there stabling of 

 the most modem construction was erected for their 

 horses.' 



» Price's Jubilee Memoir. 



In 189s additional land being required for 

 the company's increasing stocks of raw and 

 finished goods, and none being available near 

 at hand on the Surrey side, 8 acres on the 

 Fulhain shore, opposite the Belmont Works, 

 were purchased. The company's large 

 works at Bromborough Pool on the Cheshire 

 side of the Mersey were started in 1852 with 

 a view of establishing a factory close to the 

 great port of arrival of palm oil, Liverpool. 

 The company's estate here comprises 60 

 acres of ground, and the total freehold land in 

 its possession now amounts to 80 acres, of 

 which about thirty are occupied for factory 

 purposes. The progress of the company is 

 moreover evidenced by the increase of the 

 finished products sold. During the first five 

 years, 1847 to 1851, the quantity sold was 

 14,220 tons, whilst during the five years 

 ended December 1896, it had reached the 

 large total of 129,665. The total number 

 of employes is over 2,000, of whom about 

 1,400 are at Battersea, and about 600 at 

 Bromborough Pool. It is pleasant to note 

 the satisfactory relations which have always 

 existed between the company and their staff, 

 and in this connection we can only allude to 

 the Workers' Pension Fund which has been 

 found to work with very successful results, 

 and to the classes and recreative clubs for the 

 physical and intellectual well-being of the 

 workers. At Bromborough Pool, where the 

 company's village is at a distance from any 

 town, something more than this has been 

 done, but the consideration of it does not fell 

 within the scope of the present work. Of 

 the company it may in conclusion be said 

 that, founded at a time when as yet no scien- 

 tific knowledge of the fatty bodies existed, it 

 can justly claim to have been the pioneer in 

 the modern candle manufacture. 



In this respect however due recognition 

 must be had of the very excellent and valu- 

 able work done by another eminent Surrey 

 firm of candle makers, that of Messrs. J. C. 

 & J. Field, Limited, of Lambeth Upper 

 Marsh. Possessing works of considerably 

 less extent than Price's Company, this firm 

 can for length of days compare with any other 

 similar firm in the kingdom. Although the 

 year 1642, in which the firm claims to have 

 been established, is problematic, there is evi- 

 dence that sometime before the middle of the 

 seventeenth century members of the Field 

 family were settled as candle makers in Lam- 

 beth. In 1655, and this is the first definite 

 notice we have of one of them, Thomas 

 Field a wax chandler of Lambeth Marsh re- 

 tired from business and received his pension 

 from the Wax Chandlers' Company. From 

 408 



