James Parker was a British

clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

and

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

manufacturer who invented one of the pioneering new cements of the late eighteenth century. In 1791, he was granted a

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 ...

"''Method of Burning bricks, Tiles, Chalk''". His second patent in 1796 "''A certain Cement or Terras to be used in Aquatic and other Buildings and Stucco Work''", covers

Roman cement Roman cement is a substance developed by James Parker in the 1780s, being patented in 1796. The name is misleading, as it is nothing like any material used by the Romans, but was a "natural cement" made by burning septaria – nodules that are ...

, a term used in a 1798 pamphlet advertising his cement. He set up his manufacturing plant on Northfleet creek,

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. It seems that he sold his patent to Samuel Wyatt who with his cousin Charles Wyatt produced cement in the name of Parker & Wyatt. Parker himself emigrated to America in 1797, and died soon afterwards. There is evidence that the Wyatt "Roman" cement was used in building the famous

Bell Rock Lighthouse The Bell Rock Lighthouse, off the coast of Angus, Scotland, is the world's oldest surviving sea-washed lighthouse. It was built between 1807 and 1810 by Robert Stevenson on the Bell Rock (also known as Inchcape) in the North Sea, east of the ...

. The cement was made from natural nodules of chalk and clay ("

septaria A concretion is a hard, compact mass of matter formed by the precipitation of mineral cement within the spaces between particles, and is found in sedimentary rock or soil. Concretions are often ovoid or spherical in shape, although irregular ...

") from the

Isle of Sheppey The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England, neighbouring the Thames Estuary, centred from central London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the local government district of Swale. ''Sheppey'' is derive ...

. From around 1807 a number of people looked to make artificial versions of this cement (or more strictly hydraulic lime as it was not burnt at fusion temperatures). Amongst these were

James Frost James Martin Frost (born 22 August 1986) is the guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist of Welsh band The Automatic, and guitarist and backing vocalist for Cardiff-based band Effort. As well as his musical duties for The Automatic, Frost ha ...

who had about twenty patents from 1811 to 1822 including one for "British Cement" and Joseph Aspdin with his now famous patent for a method of making a cement he called "

Portland cement Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world as a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco, and non-specialty grout. It was developed from other types of hydraulic lime in England in the early 19th ...

". Between 1810 and 1820, after Parker's patent expired, "Roman" cement came into prominent use with numerous manufacturers. In 1832 there were five works around Harwich producing "Roman" cement. From about 1821 the artificial versions became more popular as improved versions could be made and the product was more consistent. Frost's patents were taken up by John Bazley White and Sons who supplied the cement to

Isambard Kingdom Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "on ...

for the

Thames Tunnel The Thames Tunnel is a tunnel beneath the River Thames in London, connecting Rotherhithe and Wapping. It measures 35 feet (11 m) wide by 20 feet (6 m) high and is 1,300 feet (396 m) long, running at a depth of ...

. The Parker and Wyatt company went out of business in 1846, and the Northfleet plant was sold to William Aspdin's company. Aspdin converted it to Portland cement production, and it continued in that role until closure in 1901, latterly under the name of "Robin's Works".

References

*Thurston A P, ''Parker's "Roman" Cement'', Transactions of the Newcomen Society 1939 P193-206
Newcomen Society
*Major A J Francis, ''The Cement Industry 1796-1914 A History'', 1977, Davis & Charles (Publishers) Ltd, Devon UK, North Pomfret Vermont US, North Vancouver Canada {{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, James Businesspeople in cement English inventors 18th-century births Year of death missing Concrete pioneers