F C Calvert and Company 1859 - 1965
- occupation:
- Manufacturer of soap, Manufacturer of tooth powder
- Nationality:
- British
- born in:
- Manchester, Manchester urban district, Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom
Dr. Frederick Crace-Calvert (1819-1873) was an eminent analytical chemist. In 1846, he was appointed Honorary Professor of Chemistry at the Manchester Royal Institution. He was an advocate of applied chemistry, contributing to industrial advancements in the bleaching and dyeing industries. He is credited with inventing the first commercially practicable method of producing phenol (carbolic acid) in 1857. and was elected to the Royal Society in 1859. In the same year, he established a company
- F. C. Calvert and Co - which developed an international market for phenol-based products. Crace-Calvert's work in promoting sanitary and medical uses of phenol fostered Joseph Lister's pioneering research into antiseptic surgery. F. C. Calvert & Co was based in Gibbon Street in East Manchester. It remained in existence as an independent company until 1965 when it was taken over by Unilever. Calvert's was best-known for its Carbolic Tooth Powder, but it also made a wide range of soaps,
ointments and disinfectants.