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John Hutchinson
1825-1865
John Hutchinson, who established his Leblanc soda factory on the east bank of the extended Sankey Navigation Canal in 1847, was the principal founder of the chemical industry in Widnes. His foresight and enterprise in acquiring land in the neighbourhood made possible the rapid expansion of the industry after his death in 1865. By his provision of a dock and local railway system he founded one of the first industrial estates in England.
Appleton Lodge was John Hutchinson's home in Widnes from his marriage in 1850 until his death in 1865. His grave, by the wall of St. Bede's Church, is a very short distance away.
Hutchinson leased this mid-eighteenth-century house from John Smith, a local landowner whose son became the first Abbot of Ampleforth. Ten years after the alkali-maker's death his widow resigned her lease of the Lodge, and the mansion was for a time occupied by Major James Cross, who was then managing the Hutchinson factories and estate.
The Document from the St Helen's & Railway Company to John Hutchinson, dated May 1850, leasing "A Piece of Land" from 31st March, 1849, at Widnes.
John Hutchinson's No 1 Works
The remains of Hutchinson's No.1 Works.
These broken arches of brickwork mark the site of the factory with which John Hutchinson, in 1847 founded the Widnes chemical industry. The arches are said to have supported vitriol chambers and also to have been used as a storage place for Pyrites. It was at the factory on this site that Ludwig Mond, in 1863-72, developed the first successful process for the recovery of sulphur from alkali waste, thus partially solving one of the great problems of the nineteenth-century soda industry.
Weldon Chlorine Still bases
Weldon Chlorine Still bases at John Hutchinson's No 1 Works.
Remains of the Weldon Chlorine Still bases, 1970's.
A full size chlorine still as used in the Weldon chlorine process.
Acid Condensing Towers, 1864.
The 8 Gay Lussac Tower's, Widnes, 1864.
These are made with lead walls, with a “ turned-up ”lead bottom, packed with coke, etc., and the lower part lined with blue bricks without mortar. It is built up in brickwork, is 4-10 ft. wide and 30-50 ft. high.
These Yorkshire stone bases are the remains of John Hutchinson's condensing towers, used in the manufacture of sulfuric acid, 1864.
The wages and conditions of an alkali worker in Widnes, 1890.
Bleaching powder work was especially well paid, reflecting the risks which these workers took. Most firms worked a two twelve-hour shift, though the night shift was sometimes lengthened and the day shift shortened.
The attempt to introduce three eight-hour shifts often met with opposition from two directions; the men saw a decrease in their wages, and their wives (backed by the foremen) feared the results of more free time for drinking.
Nevertheless, the change from a twelve-hour to an eight-hour shift at Brunner Mond reduced the number of men attended by the works doctor to one half its previous level.
A Widnes Chemical Works, 1897.
Hutchinson's No 1 works with the reservoir on the right c1900's
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