Synthetic dyes

Until the mid-nineteenth century all dyestuffs were derived from natural sources. In 1856, a young English chemist, 18 years old William Henry Perkin, was trying to synthesise quinine. Instead of yielding, as he had hoped, a nice white powder, his experiment produced a nasty looking black mess. Most of us would have thrown it away, but young Perkin had the true spirit of investigation and he studied the mess. From it he was able to extract a substance which would dye silk to a beautiful and brilliant purple colour – one which was obtainable from any of the existing vegetable dyes. Perkin named this dye Mauveine. With financial aid from his father and help from his brother, Perkin built his own dye works at Greenford Green in Middlesex. After a number of terrible explosions the dye was successfully manufactured and in commercial use by December 1857.