Hiram Hutchinson

Hiram Hutchinson (c. 1808–1869) was an American industrialist of British origin. In 1853 he founded a rubber company in France[1] that was the predecessor of Hutchinson SA, a multinational industrial conglomerate. The company was sold by his family in 1898, 29 years after Hutchinson's death.

Biography

Having acquired patent rights to the vulcanisation of rubber from Charles Goodyear[2] in 1853, Hutchinson went to France to set up a mill in Châlette-sur-Loing, Loiret. He came up with the idea of producing rubber boots after he noticed that French farmers wore wooden clogs that kept them coming home with their feet wet and muddy.[3][4] He then copied the design of the Duke of Wellington's Hessian boots to manufacture Wellington Boots that were cheap and waterproof,[4] known in the UK as wellies.[5] The boots were used extensively in WWI trenches.[6]

Hiram spent a year in France, began manufacturing, then turned over factory management to his son, Alcander. The facility was on the site of a former royal paper mill. After WWI, it used foreign laborers.[7] One of these was the Chinese Communist leader Deng Xiaoping, along with 214 Chinese.[7] From 1922, he lived in a shack behind the factory.[7]

Hutchinson returned to the United States. There he researched other rubber applications: tires; boots; sealant — all now made by Hutchinson SA.

After corporate restructuring, Hutchinson's firm still operates the plant at Châlette-sur-Loing.

Hutchinson married Mary, a Tlingit.[8] The couple had a son, Millard, who was born c 1867.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Ross, Stewart (2020). Who Invented Underpants?: The Weird Trivia of Human Invention, from Fire to Fast Food (and Everything In Between). Berkeley, CA: Ulysses Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-1-64604-097-1.
  2. ↑ Oliver, Harry (2010-01-05). Bubble Gum and Hula Hoops: The Origins of Objects in Our Everyday Lives. Penguin. ISBN 978-1-101-17124-0.
  3. ↑ Brandreth, Gyles (2022). A History of Britain in Just a Minute. Random House. ISBN 978-1-4735-3311-0.
  4. 1 2 Tait, Aaron; Faulkner, Dave (2016). Edupreneur: Unleashing Teacher Led Innovation in Schools. Melbourne: John Wiley & Sons. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-7303-2922-0.
  5. ↑ Challoner, Jack (2022). 1001 Inventions That Changed the World. San Diego, CA: Thunder Bay Press. p. 347. ISBN 978-1-64517-820-0.
  6. ↑ Buttery, David (2023). Napoleonic Britain: A Guide to Fortresses, Statues and Memorials of the French Wars 1792-1815. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen and Sword Military. p. 51. ISBN 978-1-3990-8437-6.
  7. 1 2 3 Dillon, Michael (2015). Deng Xiaoping: The Man who Made Modern China. New York, NY: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-78076-895-3.
  8. 1 2 Ferguson, Susan Lehne (2010). Lopez Island. Chicago: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4396-4007-4.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.