Courtaulds was Canada's only rayon manufacturer in the 1980s, and was criticized for polluting Cornwall, Ontario. The investment in the US was highly successful, but its sale at a knock-down price was enforced in 1941 as part of the negotiations which preceded Lend-Lease. Ĭourtaulds also entered the market of cellulosics ( viscose and acetate) in North America with the setting up of the American Viscose Corporation (AVC) in 1909. In the interwar era, Courtaulds, along with its domestic rival, British Celanese, both benefitted from tariff protection extended to the rayon industry by the Finance Act of 1925. However, in a few years the process became highly successful and was responsible for transforming the silk weaver into the world's leading man-made fibre production company. The early yarns were first woven into fabrics at the Halstead Mill in Essex in March 1906, but the process remained troublesome until further inventions improved yarn strength. They set up the first factory to produce it in Coventry UK in 1905. Wishing to reduce their dependence on natural silk, in 1904 Courtaulds acquired the Cross and Bevan's patents to the viscose process for manufacturing artificial silk or rayon from dissolving pulp. William Julien Courtauld was also a benefactor of the arts: he gave artworks to the Essex County Council chamber at Chelmsford and the town hall at Braintree in the 1930s. ![]() His great-nephew Samuel Courtauld (1876–1947) became chairman of the Courtauld company in 1921 but is chiefly remembered today as the founder of the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. He had planned to spend more time on his country estate Gosfield Hall near Halstead, but continued to play an active role in the company until just before he died in March 1881. By this time, Courtauld was a wealthy man but was also suffering from deafness. His mills, however, remained heavily dependent on young female workers – in 1838, over 92% of his workforce was female.īy 1850, Courtauld employed over 2,000 people in his three silk mills, and he had recruited partners including (in 1828) his brother, George Courtauld II (1802–1861) and (in 1849) fellow Unitarian social reformer Peter Alfred Taylor (1819-1891 – son of Peter Taylor who died the following year). In 1825 Courtauld installed a steam engine at the Bocking mill, and then installed power looms at Halstead. ![]() In 1818, George Courtauld returned to America, leaving Samuel Courtauld and Taylor to expand the business, now known as Courtauld & Taylor, by building further mills in Halstead and Bocking. In 1810, his American-born son Samuel Courtauld was managing his own silk mill in Braintree, Essex. The company was founded by George Courtauld and his cousin Peter Taylor (1790–1850) in 1794 as a silk, crepe and textile business at Pebmarsh in north Essex trading as George Courtauld & Co.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |