India Rubber, Gutta Percha and Telegraph Works Company Limited
founded circa 1864
The company began the early 19th century in London as Samuel Winkworth Silver and Company making garments in Greenwich, England. With the introduction of gutta percha to England and competition from Charles Mackintosh in the production of waterproof clothing, Silver & Company began to make its own waterproof garments. The company also produced insulated electrical and telegraph wire. In 1852 the factory moved to Woolwich Reach on the north bank of the River Thames, and the area became known as Silvertown. Charles Hancock, a founder of the Gutta Percha Company who left after a dispute in 1848, joined the Silver company in 1860 bringing with him his patents on gutta percha. With Hancock's experience and input, the company directors decided to enter the business of making and laying submarine telegraph cables. They set up the India Rubber, Gutta Percha and Telegraph Works Company, Ltd in about 1864.
"The India-rubber, Gutta-percha, and Telegraph Works Company, Limited, 1887," <i> The Telegraphist</i>, April 1, 1887.
text given at "History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications:
from the first submarine cable of 1850 to the worldwide fiber optic network," <a href="http://www.cyrusfield.com/CableCos/Silvertown/" target="_blank">online here</a>.
"Silvertown," <i>All the Year Round, A Weekly Journal</i>, "Conducted by Charles Dickens," no. 326, new series, Saturday, February 27, 1875.
Text given at "History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications:
from the first submarine cable of 1850 to the worldwide fiber optic network," <a href="http://www.cyrusfield.com/Article/1875Silvertown/" target="_blank">online here</a>.