| Charles Frederick Cross was born
in 1855.His father was a schoolmaster turned soap
manufacturer. After graduating from King's
College, London, he went to Zurich Polytechnic
and then, with his future partner, Edward John
Bevan, to Owens College, Manchester. While
Cross was a family man with a house in the
country, Bevan was a bachelor. Born in 1856, he
was a well-built, well informed man, vigorous in
every way. He had a caustic wit and became a
leader in the affairs of the Society of Public
Analysts and editor of The Analyst.
Cross who was interested in cellulose technology
and Bevan who had been a chemist at the Scottish
papermaking firm of Alexander Cowan & Co.
went into partnership in 1885 and set up as
analytical and consulting chemists in New Court,
Lincoln's Inn in London.
In 1888 they published what was to become a
standard work on papermaking. In 1892, together
with another partner, Clayton Beadle (who was
also an authority on papermaking) they took out a
patent for 'viscose' which became the basis for
the viscose rayon and cellophane industries. In
1894 Cross and Bevan took out a patent for the
manufacture of cellulose acetate - this was to
become the industrial process for its manufacture.
Cross was a recipient of the Perkin Medal of
the Society of Dyers and Colourists. He died in
1935. Bevan who was born in 1856 died in 1921.
|
