Difference between revisions of "Royal Primrose Soap Works"

Latest revision as of 14:36, 12 May 2016

The Royal Primrose Soap Works was a Silvertown soap factory run by John Knight Ltd. The company was established in 1817 in Wapping by John Knight before his sons moved the company to Silvertown in 1880. John Knight was originally making candles when he came up with the idea to use the waste materials to make soap instead. Soap is made through a process called saponification: boiling oils or fats with an alkali, which produces the soap and glycerine. John Knight used animal waste such as the fat, bones, or hooves, and some form of lye to create soap. The company started producing their famous Royal Primrose Soap in 1844 and won an award at the 1851 Great Exhibition. Another famous product was the Knight’s Castile soap. Throughout the 20th century the company expanded into other productions involving animal waste, including glue, fertilizer, and oils.

John Knight’s Soap factory relied on cottonseed, tallow and Palm Oil sourced from Egypt, West Africa, Australasia and numerous other locations.

http://www.saria.co.uk/news/pdms_silvertown_plant_celebrates_130_years_heritage.html

http://www.stgite.org.uk/media/churchwardens.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap

http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/John_Knight

Operation

1880

Location

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Located in

West Ham

Produced

Soap, Candles, Edible Oils, Oil Cake, Glue, Glycerine

Used Raw Materials

Cotton Seeds, Tallow, Palm Oil

Ownership

From	To	Owner
1880	1922	John Knight's Soap

Industry

From	To	Industry
1880	The date "{{{to_date}}}" was not understood.The date "{{{to_date}}}" was not understood.	Soap, Candle and Related Fat Based Industires

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 {{Factory
+|has description=The Royal Primrose Soap Works was a Silvertown soap factory run by John Knight Ltd. The company was established in 1817 in Wapping by John Knight before his sons moved the company to Silvertown in 1880. John Knight was originally making candles when he came up with the idea to use the waste materials to make soap instead. Soap is made through a process called saponification: boiling oils or fats with an alkali, which produces the soap and glycerine. John Knight used animal waste such as the fat, bones, or hooves, and some form of lye to create soap. The company started producing their famous Royal Primrose Soap in 1844 and won an award at the 1851 Great Exhibition. Another famous product was the Knight’s Castile soap. Throughout the 20th century the company expanded into other productions involving animal waste, including glue, fertilizer, and oils.
+[[John Knight’s Soap]] factory relied on [[cottonseed]], [[tallow]] and [[Palm Oil]] sourced from [[Egypt]], [[West Africa]], [[Australasia]] and numerous other locations.
+http://www.saria.co.uk/news/pdms_silvertown_plant_celebrates_130_years_heritage.html
+http://www.stgite.org.uk/media/churchwardens.html
+http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap
+http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/John_Knight
 |started_operation=1880
-|has_coordinates=51.501180310932, 0.020341873168945
+|has_coordinates=51.50083, 0.019786
 |is_in=West Ham
 |produced=Soap, Candles, Edible Oils, Oil Cake, Glue, Glycerine
 |raw_material=Cotton Seeds, Tallow, Palm Oil
 }}
+{{Ownership Header}}
 {{Ownership record
-|from_date=1800
+|from_date=1880
 |to_date=1922
 |was_owned_by=John Knight's Soap
 }}
+{{Ownership Footer}}
+{{Industry Header}}
 {{Industry record
 |from_date=1880
 |was_part_of_industry=Soap, Candle and Related Fat Based Industires
 }}
-==Description==
+{{Industry Footer}}
-[[John Knight’s soap]] factory relied on [[cottonseed]], [[tallow]] and [[palm oil]] sourced from [[Egypt]], [[West Africa]], [[Australasia]] and numerous other locations.
-From Grace's Guide:
-John Knight Ltd, of Old Gravel Lane, Wapping, London; The Royal Primrose Soap Works, London.
-of Silvertown, London, E16. (1922)
-Company founded by John Knight, at Wapping, London.
-Produced 'Royal primrose' soap.
-Won a Prize Medal at the 1851 Great Exhibition.
-s Employed 150 persons and produced between two and three thousand tons of soap per annum.
-Business moved to Silvertown. The Royal Primrose Soap Works, Knights Road, Silvertown, was opened by John Knight Ltd.
-The company of John Knight Ltd was registered on 13 November, to acquire the undertaking of John Knight and Sons, soap makers and perfumers. [1]. Public company incorporated.
-By 1922 was an associate company of Lever Brothers[2]
-Listed Exhibitor. Soap; Household, Laundry, Perfumed, Soft, Medicinal, Shaving, Flakes, Powder; Dye Soap. Toilet Preparations; Glue; Tallow; Edible Dripping; Edible Oils; Oil Cake for Cattle Feeding. (Stand No. A.68) [3]
-Knight's Castile and Solidox adverts
-. Zixt advert.
-Entered into an arrangement with R. S. Hudson Ltd to form a new marketing company called Hudson and Knight to act as selling agents for the products of both companies to grocers and chemists[4]. Food rationing affected the supplies of raw materials to the fat melting and bone processing department; the vegetable adhesive department continued to make progress despite constraints on supplies of paper and cardboard, the main users of these products; seed crushing and oil refinery department was supplying makers of cattle cake and edible oils.
-Hudson and Knight were unable to satisfy demand for the 2 major products, Knights Castile and Family Health Soap, due to rationing; demand for Shavallo Shaving Cream increased by 50 percent (not restricted by rationing)[5]
-Over 1,200 employees, making soap, tallow, glue, fertilizers, vegetable adhesives, and dripping
-It is now a subsidiary of Unilever Ltd.