Sir Holbrook Gaskell (12 November 1878 – 31 March 1951) was a

chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wi ...

industrialist in

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, England. He was born on the 12 November 1878, the son of

Holbrook Gaskell II Holbrook Gaskell II (7 December 1846 – 2 July 1919) was a chemical industrialist in Widnes, Lancashire, England. He was the eldest son of Holbrook Gaskell, founder of Gaskell, Deacon & Co. and his wife Frances Anne Bellhouse and was born in ...

, Esq., of

Frodsham Frodsham is a market town, civil parish, and electoral ward in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Its population was 8,982 in 2001, increasing to 9,077 at the 2011 Census. It is s ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

and the grandson of

Holbrook Gaskell Holbrook Gaskell (5 March 1813 – 8 March 1909) was a British industrialist, and an art and plant collector. Early life Gaskell was born in Wavertree, Liverpool. He was the eldest son of Roger Gaskell, a sailcloth manufacturer, from his marr ...

, founder of Gaskell, Deacon & Co. He was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. He became chief engineer of the

United Alkali Company United Alkali Company Limited was a British chemical company formed in 1890, employing the Leblanc process to produce soda ash for the glass, textile, soap, and paper industries. It became one of the top four British chemical companies merged in ...

in 1914. After the outbreak of the First World War, he became responsible for designing and constructing plants to manufacture caustic soda and chlorine via the electrolysis of brine. He visited USA with Dr. J. T. Conroy to investigate the

electrolytic An electrolyte is a medium containing ions that is electrically conducting through the movement of those ions, but not conducting electrons. This includes most soluble salts, acids, and bases dissolved in a polar solvent, such as water. Upon dis ...

chlorine Chlorine is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate betwee ...

processes in use there. He was appointed an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in the

1918 Birthday Honours The 1918 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, 3 June a ...

for his work during the war. With E. M. Hollingsworth he designed West Bank Power Station in the 1920s to supply power to the factories of the United Alkali Company. When this company joined with three other companies to form

Imperial Chemical Industries Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was a British chemical company. It was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain. It was formed by the merger of four leading British chemical companies in 1926. Its headquarters were at M ...

in 1926, Gaskell became the chairman of its General Chemicals Group. Later he became technical director on the board of Imperial Chemical Industries and in 1942 he was

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

ed for his services to industry. He married Emily Mary Ridgway on 21 February 1906 at

St Peter's Church, Oughtrington St Peter's Church is the parish church of Lymm in Warrington, Cheshire, England. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese ...

Lymm Lymm is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England, which incorporates the hamlets of Booths Hill, Broomedge, Church Green, Deansgreen, Heatley, Heatley Heath, Little Heatley, Oughtrington, Reddish, Rushgreen and ...

, Cheshire. They had no children. He died on 31 March 1951.

References

Citations Sources * People from Widnes English chemists English businesspeople 1878 births 1951 deaths Officers of the Order of the British Empire {{UK-business-bio-stub