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coprolite publications
BARKING, LONDON.
It was John Bennett
Lawes, a landowner and farmer from Rothamsted, Herts. who was responsible for
the mid-nineteenth century development of the chemical industry in Barking. His
experiments on dissolving rock and organic phosphate with sulphuric acid led to
the production of superphosphate, a valuable artificial manure which he
realised was able to be manufactured on a large scale and sold at least half
the price of the other artificial manure on the market, guano. Despite his friends
telling him that he should not go into business, he set up Lawes Artificial
Manure Company and had his first chemical manure works erected on the banks of
the Thames at Deptford in 1843. Here, 120 to 150 ton ships discharged their cargoes
of nitrate of soda brought all the way from Chile, guano from the Peruvian coast,
animal bones from the continent and the newly discovered coprolites from just
up the coast at Suffolk. (9)
These latter supplies
were to be a major source of local phosphate during that century, his agents
being able to purchase it in the early days at only 30 shillings a ton. Once
processed, in 1852 he was able to sell his superphosphate at £5 a ton, considerably
less than the £12 per ton of Peruvian Government guano. His success in
marketing this product around the country led to competitors setting up manure
works in ports around the coast. By 1854 his Deptford works were producing
30,000 tons of superphosphate annually. (10)
By 1857 the
limitations of expansion of the Deptford site led him in 1857 to purchase a 100
acre site at Creekmouth, Barking and have a large factory erected with an
extensive sulphuric acid acid plant. The map shown on page .., dated 1864,
shows how isolated the works were although there had been a row of houses
erected and a public house, The Crooked Billet. (11) Unfortunately, few records
of the works before the 1870s have come to light except some old sketches of the
plant which can be seen on page .. By 1869, the British Chemical and
Agricultural Manure Company had similarly set up at Creekmouth but what Lawes
involvement was with it is unknown. (12) The period 1869 - 1872 was one of
dramatic growth with profits averaging 10% per annum. (13)
By 1872 however,
such was the success of his venture that a group of businessmen made Lawes an offer
of £300,000 for the manure company he had ran for almost 30 years. Given its
equivalent value today of about £9 million, Lawes sold his interest in the
company but his name was maintained to keep the existing trade with him acting
as their consultant. The chairman, John Knowles’, first report can be seen on
page .. and it is of interest to note that Lawes allowed £150,000 to be kept in
the company which he was to draw on over the years. The deputy chairman was William
Colchester from Ipswich, the largest coprolite exporter in the Eastern Counties,
who had been in competition with Lawes since they first started manure
manufacture in the 1840s. This new company
maintained his existing coprolite arrangements with landowners in Bedfordshire,
Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire and quite possibly Suffolk as well, and negotiated
new leases, particularly in Ashwell, Cambs., and Barton-Le-Clay and Shillington,
Beds. (14)
They maintained
Lawes manager, Joseph Weston, in charge of their coprolite department,
increasing his salary 50% after a year to £300. One of their first coprolite
purchases was 800 tons of Cambridgeshire coprolites at a cost of 70/- a ton,
more than double the rate paid for Suffolk coprolites thirty years earlier. It
is interesting to note that they were from Colchester’s own works. In
comparison, 500 tons were purchased from another Suffolk manure manufacturer, Edward
Packard, at only 52/6 per ton. Admittedly the phosphate content of the latter
was lower. By December 1872, new sources of phosphate were beginning to be exploited
but Packard’s offer of 1,000 tons of Charleston phosphate was refused, the
company purchasing 1,100 tons of poorer quality Boulogne coprolites at only
35/- a ton.
The availability and
quantity of the American supplies became more apparent in 1873 when they bought
1,500 tons of South Carolina River Phosphates but they were sold by the unit,
probably sacks at 1s. per unit. Despite these imports coprolite was still a major
raw material but not as profitable a business as it had been for Lawes. In the
early 1870s there had been considerable
labour unrest across the country and agricultural labour in particular gained
higher wages as a result. Coprolite labourers had significantly better wages than
farm labourers and the company records show that from July 2nd 1872 to April
4th 1874 the coprolite wage bill was £23,251 5s.9d. As coprolite sales only amounted
to £29,789 14s.5d. they felt it not as remunerative as it had been in Lawes’
hands. (15) They gave the first refusal of the complete works to Weston but his
salary could not have been enough to purchase it all so Lawes took it off their
hands. The second annual report explained the situation to the shareholders but
did not indicate who had purchased the business!
“Your directors have
not been satisfied with the working of the Coprolite business, and looking at
the enormous advance in the price of labour, and the difficulty of exercising proper
supervision over the works owing to their being situated at a considerable
distance from London, and spread over a large area of the country, they have
therefore availed themselves of a favourable opportunity of disposing of it.”
(16)
Having disposed
of it they invested in new gas works, a tramway, pier and steam cranes at their
works to increase production and reduce costs and this accounted for the rise
in profits in 1875. By this time acid production was 400 - 500 tons a week.
Greater purchases were made of the American phosphates and by spring of 1876
ships were bringing in 2,000 tons a month from Rock River, Carolina and coprolite
purchases dropped accordingly. The company expanded its markets, both at home
and abroad, growing, despite considerable competition from manure companies which
had set up at the same time as them. Branches were established in Scotland,
Ireland, Wales and the Channel Islands, and it went on to trade overseas in
North and South America, India, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and the
Middle East.” (17)
The appendix on
page .. shows the increased profits during the early 1870s but the end of that
decade saw four years of heavy rains which led not only to deficient harvests
across the country but also to a decline in demand for fertiliser. The
introduction of “free trade” which had allowed their cheaper import of American
phosphate also had a more serious effect. It allowed huge imports of cheaper
meat and grain from the States which, coupled with the bad weather, led to much
lower food prices. Along with severe floods in many areas, it resulted in a
particularly unfavourable market for manures with farmers unwilling to grow what
they could not sell. The chairman’s 1877 report confirmed this depression which
he said had “prevailed for so long a time,” but there was no sign of pessimism.
The following year, although profits had risen again to their peak of £36,629,
there were hopes for the future as it was stated:-
“Owing to low prices
of machinery and building materials the Directors have been enabled to make contracts
upon the most favourable terms, and have at a comparatively small cost, carried
out the extensions upon the most improved principle. The new plant consists of
a high level Jetty, furnished with Hydraulic Cranes, and connected with
Tramways with the Works, Ten Horizontal Mills; and all the ncessary Apparatus
for Mixing; the whole being driven by a compound Horizontal Engine with two
Galloway boilers. With these advantages it is confidently expected a considerable
saving will be affected in the cost of landing and storing materials, and also
in the cost of manufacture.” (18)
The next year,
1879, more imports of rock phosphates flooded into the country and coprolite
sales dropped to only 95 tons with prices down to only 49/- a ton. Competition
was excessive. Profits fell almost 33% and there was hardly a market for
“super” with farmers in such dire straits. This time the problem was
acknowledged.
“The depression which
has affected every branch of industry during this past year, has, in
consequence of bad crops and low prices, been so severely felt by all connected
with Agriculture, that the Government have appointed a Royal Commission to look
into the question. It will hardly, therefore, occasion surprise that the sales
of the Company’s Manures show a falling off as compared with previous years,
for not only have Consumers, in consequence of the unfavourable season been compelled
to reduce their purchases, but the Directors have in many cases, decreed it
prudent to restrict business rather than incur too great risks at the present
time.” (19)
1880 was their worst
year with profits falling to £13,821. William Colchester took over the
chairmanship with the company still owing Lawes a considerable fortune. In a
letter pleading with Lawes to defer his substantial claim he acknowledged
profits had not been quite as expected; only 7% between 1872 - 8 and 5% between
1878 - 80.
“...the great
diminution in the profits are well known to you as they do from a succession of
bad harvests and from the great competition caused by the new works which have
come into existence of late years.” (20)
Lawes eventually
managed to gain access to part of his money and an agreement that it would all
be paid over to his family on his death. Despite production of a million tons
of superphosphate in 1881, competition was still so severe the directors had no
alternative but to make considerable concessions. The Deptford factory was
closed and sold for £960 and the freehold of the Barking site had to be bought.
(21) With this background the 1880s were a quieter period of maintaining their
market and improving facilities in spite of many unfavourable circumstances. The
situation in 1881 was still intense caused by the,
“...disastrous
state of the farming interest, to the great difficulties they have in collecting
accounts for manure for the last two seasons, and also the very severe
competition they also have to contend against many of the other makers offering
manures at prices varying from 5/- to 10/- per ton less than the Company’s
quotation.” (22)
Interestingly demand
for coprolite improved in 1881 but to what extent it was due to Colchester
taking over is uncertain. He and his brother Edward still had agreements with
landowners in Cambs. (23) There had been problems with their overseas suppliers
which Colchester acknowledged.
“In consequence of
Messrs Wyllie, Teacher & Gordon being very much behind in their deliveries of
Phosphate under contract he had been compelled to purchase 2,800 tons of
coprolites at considerably increased prices and also to purchase 250 tons of
superphosphate to enable him to fulfil contracts made last autumn.” (24)
That year
contracts were made for 4,750 tons of coprolites from Beds. Cambs. and Suffolk with
prices varying from 72/- for finely ground Camb. coprolites, 45/- for clean
Suffolk coprolites and 16/- per ton for Bedfordshire “smalls.” How many of
these came from his or Lawes’ works was not revealed in the books but it would
be interesting to be able to confirm whether the company maintained their
business interests at this difficult time. Over 1,500 tons of Boulogne
coprolites were also purchased at 30/- a ton making it the largest annual
coprolite purchase.
In 1882 Lawes was
given a baronetcy “in recognition of his invaluable services in the cause of scientific
and practical agriculture. (25) This added prestige to the company and successful
attempts were made to win contracts overseas in New Zealand, Spain, Portugal,
Sweden and Germany. A new coprolite crushing mill was purchased and a new
sulphuric acid plant was started which by 1885 was one of the most complete in
the country and in fact, it became the major job of the labourers that decade.
The men were paid 22 shillings a week and the boys 10 shillings, similar wages
paid to Colchester’s coprolite diggers. Close scrutiny of all aspects of the
company was kept after financial discrepancies in their Scotland office were
discovered and inefficient milling practices. Every attempt was made to ensure
lower costs to keep a competitive edge. Coprolite purchases continued but not at
quite so high levels as 1881 but at lower prices. There was an increase in the
cost of their overseas phosphates and more expense was required to get a finer
ground powder from harder Cuacao phosphates. A drought reduced water levels in 1883
causing stoppages when it was impossible to build up steam to drive the
machinery. Yet throughout the first half of the 1880s demand for Bedfordshire coprolites was maintained but
at prices which gradually dropped from 30/- a ton in 1882 to 21/- in 1886 when only
600 tons were purchased. After a slight increase to 1,200 tons in 1887 at only
20/- a ton purchases halted. Many pits would have been exhausted by that time
or too deep to continue to be economic. (26)
“The engineering and chemical equipment of the entire
works can only be described as the perfection of the plant outfit for such an
establishment. The specialities of the house consist in the following: - Lawes’
Turnip Manure, Lawes’ Dissolved Bones,
Lawes’ Mangold Manure, Lawes’ Cereal Manure, Lawes’
Peruvian Guano, Lawes’ Potato Manure, Lawes’ Concentrated Manure, Lawes’ Corn
and Grass Manure, and superphosphate of all grades. Each of these is the
outcome of Sir John Lawes assiduous researches and investigations into the
science of fertilizing by chemical influence, and each article has fulfilled
its allotted mission with results that it is superfluous to say have been in
hte highest degree satisfactory. In the preparation of the above the firm
employ their manufacture of sulphuric acid, in conjunction with various
products of the earth, viz; mineral phosphates, guano, bones, hoof and horns,
dried blood, nitrate of soda, salt, potash, and sulphate of ammonia. The
manures themselves are used not only by the principal agriculturalists of the
United Kingdom, but large quantities are annually shipped to the colonies, the
continent, and America, and the yearly sales now amount to close upon 50,000
tons.
The stores at the Barking works are enormous, and, in
addition to these, stocks are kept at all railway depots in London, and at
Newport, Swansea, Cardiff, Plymouth, Bridport, Weymouth, Bude, Southampton,
Yarmouth, Hull, Exmouth, Teignmouth, Gloucester, Grimsby, Gainsboro', Stockton
on Tees, Lynn, Cardigan, Saltney, Chester, Penzance, Douglas and Ramsey (Isle
of Man), Berwick upon Tweed, Leith, Ardrossan, Grangemouth, Invergordon,
Inverness, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Lossiemouth, Jersey and Guernsey, and nearly
every railway station and canal wharf in the United Kingdom; also at Belfast,
Cork, Dundalk, Derry, Galway, Limerick, Wexford, Westport and Waterford. Agents
are established in each of these towns, as also elsewhere; and the head office
for Ireland is at 22 Eden Quay, Dublin. The administration of the affairs of
this distinguished and influential house is of the most capable and vigorous
character; indeed, it could hardly be otherwise in such thoroughly efficient
and experienced hands as those of Mr. Elborough, the general manager; Mr. J.
Morgan, Secretary; Mr. Wilson, the works superintendent; and Mr. McAllister,
the superintendent of the sulphuric acid department. That Sir John B. Lawes has
won world-wide fame by the successful operation of the great concern he has
founded and developed, goes without saying. That his great services to
agriculturalists have been amply recognised and well appreciated is evidenced
in his possession of that fame and renown, and is appropriately marked in two
other notable and special ways - one his dignity as a baronet conferred upon
him in recognition of those services; the other excellent working laboratory at
Harpenden Common, near his residence, eqipped at a cost of £2,000, and
presented to him as a testimonial from many prominent agriculturalists who owed
much of their success to the outcome of his labours. In time, if there is today
in this country as bona fide and well developed science of agriculture (which
hardly anyone will honestly), it is not too much to say that its practical
rise, progress present firm establishment, and bright future promise are
largely, if not wholly, attributable to this eminent baronet and the notable
concern which exists today as a monument to his indefatigable will and energy.“
(Modern London, 1888)
In a valuation of
the Company’s plant and machinery in 1887 there was a note of £3,883 1s.7d. for
Cambridge being “the value of Coprolite Works which the Company gave up to Sir
John Bennet Lawes some years ago.” Whether this was the plant he bought in 1874
is unclear but it could have been some of Colchester’s works. (27) A new mill
for grinding the imported phosphate was constructed in 1887 and the “chambers” were
replaced with six new ones in 1888 to enable an annual production of 20,000
tons.
In 1888 the
Agricultural Gazette published a long description of his two factories and the
editor, Mr Morton, in jocular vein about its noxious processes, commented that,
“[The
Manufacturer] is, indeed, not allowed to send to waste more than a certain
weight of acid to every cubic foot of air; and there stands the ladder and the
test-hole, for the use of Mr Inspector, whenever he may choose to look in and
take his samples.” (28)
It was noted that
wages at that time were 22s per week for men and 10s for boys amounting to
£24,000 in 1887, a 33% increase over 1880. Details of the more philanthropic work
that the Company was doing and the social background of the area revealed there
were,
“...no fewer than
fifty cottages with gardens, provided for some of the men engaged, the greater number
having their houses or their lodgings a mile or more away, at Barking. There is
a schoolroom here, in which also services are conducted on the Sundays, and where
occasional entertainments are given on week-days; there is a general shop, and a
public house, a drum-and-pipe band, and a fire-engine; the clergyman pays his
visits weekly - even a bishop has been known to conduct the Sunday services -
the doctor is at hand:- What more can a well equipped community desire?” (29)
Also in 1888, an
article in “Modern London,” based largely on Morton’s account, gives us fascinating
insight into Victorian attitudes on environmental health.
“From all parts of
the surrounding neighbourhood the position of these works can be accurately
determined by the huge chimney stack that towers into the murky air of Barking
to a height of 175 feet, and measures something like 28 feet in diameter. This
great chimney, it is said, has played the role of general doctor and physician
in ordinary to the district, and has done this in a peculiar manner. The
manufacture of sulphuric acid is practically the basis of this industry, since the
chemical product enters as an important ingredient into most of the preparations
of the firm. In the production of this agent a small percentage of the acid fumes
generated is allowed to escape by the lofty chimney referred to, and these fumes
tend to purify the atmosphere of the neighbourhood from what was formerly a
chronic tendency to the development of fevers and ague. The whole sanitary effect
of the chimney upon the locality in which it stands appears, indeed, to have been
remarkable; and even a case of small-pox was condemned to loneliness and
isolation, and speedily died out itself for lack of a congenially infectious
atmosphere. Thus the company’s works are a distinct local benefit, as well as a
source of universal agricultural profit.
With regard to the manufacture of sulphuric acid - it is
produced from Spanish pyrites, of which 10,000 tons are imported annually, and
theyearly output of acid amounts in all to about 23,000 tons. The immense size
of the works, of which the sulphuric acid department is only one section, may
be best understood from the fact that their structural parts alone - factories,
warehouses, sheds and wharves - cover an area of nearly thirty-five acres.”
(30)
Despite intense competition
from cheaper manures throughout the 1880s, profits ranged from £22,000 to
£26,000, similar to the profits for the 1890s but there was a downward trend.
More storage sheds were built in 1890 and with severe competition, they bought their
local competitor, the London Manure Company and expanded into sheep dips and disinfectants.
A fire hit in 1894 which did a lot of damage but a foreign move increased their
agencies to include the continent, Argentina, New Zealand and the Cape. (31)
As far as
coprolite supplies were concerned, most workings in the country had come to a
halt by the early 1890s. The last coprolite purchase of 500 tons was from
Potton, Beds. at only 19/6 per ton but by 1894 the Quarries Act had brought coprolite
pits under its regulations once they were over 20 feet so the deeper seams being
exploited were then considered by contractors as not worth continuing. The few
remaining Suffolk coprolite pits closed at this time.
Foreign “super” from
Scandinavia started being sold in the country at this time which further
reduced demand. There are records of “super” actually being made using ground
coprolites and sulphuric acid in huge wooden troughs in the farm yard but on
such a small scale it would only have reduced demand negligibly. In the 1895 report
Colchester pointed out that the winter had been both severe and protracted,
which could also explain why most coprolite work ceased,
“...followed as
it was by a period of flood at the time of root sowing, affected very
considerably the demand for artificial manures, and this, combined with the ruinously
low prices of Agricultural produce of all kinds, which curtailed the purchasing
power of the farmer, has had the effect of decreasing sales both at home and
Export.” (32)
Consequently, the
prices of all manufactured manures fell, considerably more than any decrease in
materials and production costs. Superphosphate was actually imported for the
first time in 1894 and as overseas production increased, particularly in Scandinavia,
it decreased the company’s market and made this aspect of trade unremunerative.
This situation continued through 1897,
“...causing firms
who have been doing an export business to endeavour to place their production
on the home market, with the result that the competition already very severe, has
been intensified to such an extent, that the prices of all kinds of manures
have fallen lower during the past year than they have hitherto been.” (33)
By the end of the
century things had got worse. William Colchester died in 1898 and the
chairmanship was taken over by T. Perkins of Hitchin. The venture into the
brick manufacturing business at that time was a disaster. Poor prices, poor
weather and poor prices for bricks in particular, led to the plant being closed
and disposed of, leaving profits down at £15,892 by 1900. When the last coprolite
pit, according to the records, closed about 1904, the fertiliser industry had
changed dramatically from its boom years in the 1870s.
The increased competition
had forced prices down and many manure companies were subsequently forced to amalgamate
to survive. Few people realise the importance of the coprolite business to the development
of the fertiliser business in this country or the role that people like Lawes and
Colchester played in our nation’s industrial and agricultural history.
Lawes Artificial
Manure Company
Annual Profits
1876-1902
1873 28,148
1874 26,328 17 9
1875 31,263 17 10
1876 32,150 17 5
1877 34,887 14 7 1890
25,887 14 0
1878 36,629 16 9 1891
23,776 1 4
1879 24,190 17 0 1892
23,949 9 10
1880 13,821 0 0 1893
26,362 11 1
1881 22,154 17 6 1894
22,058 0 0
1882 26,623 9 5 1895
27,023 1 1
1883 24,237 16 8 1896
24,958 0 0
1884 24,937 7 2 1897
22,012 16 6
1885 25,482 16 8 1898
22,586 0 0
1886 25,041 0 0 1899
23,006 17 10
1887 24,953 6 10 1900
15,892 0 0
1888 23,183 15 5 1901
18,430 0 0
1889 25,557 3 0 1902
17,441 19 10
(34)
References
1. O.S. 6 inch
Beds.23NE 1931
2. Clutterbuck,
Rev. see Hinxworth
3. From documents
in possession of Mr D. Smyth of Edworth
4. Ibid.
5. Beaver,G.s diaries,Hitchin Museum,p74a
6. Lawes
Chem.Manure Co.Private Ledger,I,p98 (Valence House
Museum,Dagenham)
7. Beaver,
op.cit.,p117a.
8. See Arlesey,
Hinxworth, Ashwell, Dunton, Guilden and
Steeple Mordens
9. See
Rothamsted, Felixstowe
10. OS.25 inch
Essex 74.01; 82.01
11. Lawes Manure
Company Records, Agricultural History Museum,
Reading
University
12. SuffRO.HC
434.8728.155
13. Lawes Chem.
Manure Co. Minute Book II,p217-222, Valence House
Museum, Dagenham
14. Ibid.
Co.Info.Sheet,
15. Lawes
Chem.Manure Co.Private Ledger,I,pp8,172 (Valence House
Museum,Dagenham)
16. Ibid.
Co.Minutes,1874,pp144-5; Annual Report,1874
17. Ibid. Minute
Books,1872-6; SuffRO.HC 434.8728.402
18. SuffRO.HC
434.8728.402d. Annual Report,1878
19. Co.Annual
Report,1879
20. Co.Minute
Book, 1880, II,pp217-222
21. Ibid.
22. Co. Minute
Book,II,p236
23. See Abington
Pigotts; Burwell, Great Shelford, Steeple Morden
24. Ibid,p258-9
25. Ibid. p338
26. Ibid.
1882-87; see Potton
27. Ibid. 1887
valuation
28. AG,1888,p8-10
29. Ibid.
30. Modern
London,1888
31. SuffRO.HC
434.8728.402d.
32. Ibid.
Ann.Report 1895
33. Ibid.
Ann.Report 1897
34. SuffRO.HC
434.8728. Annual Reports, 1876-1902; Lawes
Chem.Manure
Co.Minute Books, 1872-1875 (Valence House Museum,
Dagenham)