Stephen Moulton (7 July 1794 – 26 April 1880) was an Englishman who, as an agent of the American rubber pioneer

Charles Goodyear Charles Goodyear (December 29, 1800 – July 1, 1860) was an American self-taught chemist and manufacturing engineer who developed vulcanized rubber, for which he received patent number 3633 from the United States Patent Office on June 15, 1844. ...

, first brought samples of

vulcanized rubber Vulcanization (British: Vulcanisation) is a range of processes for hardening rubbers. The term originally referred exclusively to the treatment of natural rubber with sulfur, which remains the most common practice. It has also grown to includ ...

to the United Kingdom.

Biography

Moulton, who was born in

Whorlton, County Durham Whorlton is a small village in County Durham, in England. It is situated near the River Tees and to the east of Barnard Castle. Whorlton Bridge is a 183 ft long suspension bridge which crosses the River Tees. It is Britain's 2nd oldest s ...

, subsequently shared the samples with Thomas Hancock, who then beat Goodyear to a UK

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

for the vulcanization process by a matter of a few weeks in 1843. After various disputes with Hancock and Goodyear over patents and manufacturing rights, Moulton established his own factory in 1848 at Kingston Mill near

Bradford-on-Avon Bradford-on-Avon (sometimes Bradford on Avon or Bradford upon Avon) is a town and civil parish in west Wiltshire, England, near the border with Somerset, which had a population of 9,402 at the 2011 census. The town's canal, historic buildings, s ...

, Wiltshire, England. His company, S.Moulton & Co., specialised in rubber applications for engineering industries and in 1855 acquired the Middle Mill adjacent to the existing factory along with the nearby Staverton woollen mill between 1851 and 1860. With the increasing importance of the British

railway industry Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

he concentrated on providing rubber suspension systems and components for

railway carriage A railroad car, railcar (American and Canadian English), railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck (British English and UIC), also called a train car, train wagon, train carriage or train truck, is a ...

s. Moulton's home in Bradford was The Hall, a Jacobean mansion on the eastern edge of the town. In 1891, eleven years after Moulton's death, his company amalgamated with that of George Spencer in London to become George Spencer Moulton & Co. Ltd., which in 1956 became part of

Avon Rubber Avon Protection plc is a British company that specialises in the engineering and manufacturing of respiratory protection equipment for military, law enforcement and fire personnel. Its corporate headquarters are south of Melksham in Wiltshir ...

Family connection

Moulton's great-grandson Dr Alex Moulton was himself a pioneer of rubber engineering, being responsible for many innovations including the rubber suspension system he designed for the innovative BMC car, the

Mini The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moulton, Stephen 1794 births 1880 deaths People from County Durham (district) English railway mechanical engineers