The Ipswich Gas Company was a gas supply company formed in 1820.
The Ipswich Paving Commissioners had installed 300 Smythuril's Patent Lamps in 1793. Twenty five years later
Robert Ransome needed
coke for his foundry, and gas suitable for
gas light
''Gas Light'' is a 1938 thriller play, set in the Victorian era, written by the British novelist and playwright Patrick Hamilton. Hamilton's play is a dark tale of a marriage based on deceit and trickery, and a husband committed to driving h ...
s was a side product. In 1818 Ransome, with his brother
James
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguati ...
and
John Shewell established a small coke oven in their foundry in Old Foundry Street. Their employee,
William Cubitt
Sir William Cubitt FRS (bapt. 9 October 1785 – 13 October 1861) was an eminent English civil engineer and millwright. Born in Norfolk, England, he was employed in many of the great engineering undertakings of his time. He invented a type o ...
, made sure that the gas produced by the coke plant was collected and distributed at first to Carr Street, Tavern Street and on the
Cornhill.
Dykes Alexander was the first chairman of the company.
The Ipswich engineer, businessman and politician
Ebenezer Goddard
Ebenezer Goddard (10 March 1816, Ipswich–19 October 1882, Ipswich) was an Ipswich engineer, businessman and politician. He worked for Ipswich Gas Company for many years and was Mayor of Ipswich three times: 1857-1858, 1865-1866 and 1872-1873. ...
worked for the company for many years, as did his father
Daniel Poole Goddard.
References
{{reflist
Companies based in Ipswich