Frederick Walton

Frederick Edward Walton ( baptized May 19, 1834 in Sowerby Bridge near Halifax, Yorkshire, † May 16, 1928 in Nice ) was an English entrepreneur and inventor of linoleum and the lincrusta. On the basis of his invention, he built the first linoleum factory, thus founding the success as flooring, linoleum until well into the 20th century had. Overall, Walton reported on 88 British patents, of which two-thirds were in direct connection with linoleum.

Life and work

Family and Education

Frederick Edward Walton was baptized on 19 May 1834 in Sowerby Bridge, near Halifax, Yorkshire, his date of birth is unknown. He was the second son of the engineer James Walton ( 1802/3-1883 ) and his wife Ann Kenworthy. His education was in Walton Bradford and Wakefield, as well as abroad in Belgium and France. After completing his education he became a partner of his father and brother in their companies in Haughton Dale near Manchester. Together they made carding wire from the latex of the rubber tree ( Ficus elastica ) for carding cotton, for which his father had developed a patent.

On March 19, 1867 Walton Alice Ann married Scruby († 1886), daughter of animal surgeon Thomas Scruby. With her he had one son and three daughters.

Invention of linoleum

Frederick Walton worked in our own laboratory on projects for the joint company, including the development of quick-drying inks for oil cloths. According to multiple sources, he discovered in this work on a paint can with color based on linseed oil a solid rubbery layer of oxidized linseed oil ( Linoxin ). In 1860 he received a patent on the production of Linoxin in which linseed oil is exposed to air and hardens by oxidation. In the same year he sold his shares in the company of his father and opened his own workshop in Chiswick, to continue working on his invention.

Walton tried, probably inspired by the 1844 invented flooring Kamptulikon to apply the Linoxin developed by him on fabric sheets and thus to get a replacement for rubber. In 1863 he created his first piece of linoleum; the name is derived from the Latin name of the commons Leins (Linum ), from which linseed oil is obtained, and oleum for oil. He settled the linoleum patented in 1864 and then moved to Staines, where he built his Linoleum Manufacturing Company. After a slow rate of adoption of the product and a heavy marketing as " warm, soft and durable " flooring sales increased and linoleum was used because of the easy cleaning ability, especially for public buildings such as hospitals and offices.

1872 Walton went to New York and opened here the American Linoleum Company on Staten Iceland, which he himself led two years. 1877 ran from his patents for the linoleum and 1878, the UK High Court also ruled that the trademark is not protected. Linoleum was the name of the material and not the branded product from Walton's company. Several leading flooring manufacturer took the opportunity to now also produce linoleum and entered into competition with Walton; especially Michael Barker Nairn in Kirkcaldy and James Williamson in Lancaster were serious competitors in the UK and benefited from the rapid market growth of the material.

Frederick Walton retired in 1878 from active management of his company back, but stayed home owners. 1877, he developed and patented a method of making Linoxin as wall coverings available and called the new product Lincrusta. In 1878 he opened in Sunbury- on-Thames a factory for the production Lincrusta, later followed by music in Paris and Hanover. 1888 and 1890 Walton patented process to make linoleum by inlays and mosaics, and founded in 1894 the Greenwich Inlaid Linoleum Company. This worked profitably until 1914, but was taken over in 1922 by Nairn.

Around 1922, Walton moved to Nice, writing his book, The Infancy and Development of Linoleum Floorcloth, which appeared in 1925. He died in a road accident on 16 May 1928 in Nice and was buried in August in the cemetery of La Caucada.

Frederick Walton was his life, more and more inventors as a businessman, so he left the management of his company usually managers while he sat on the board itself. He is constantly working on new developments and put it in a 88 different patents in the UK, two thirds of which are directly related with oxidized linseed oil. In addition, he received patents on meat extracts, car wheels, aircraft parts and artificial Gummisubstitute.

Works

  • The Infancy and Development of Linoleum Floorcloth, 1925.
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