An accidental discovery

John Walker

John Walker was born in Stockton-on-Tees in 1781, son of John Walker proprietor of a grocers and wine merchants and his wife Mary Peacock. He had two brothers, James, Thomas and two sisters Jane and Mary.

Walker went to the local grammar school and was afterwards apprenticed to Watson Alcock, the principal surgeon of the town serving him as an assistant. He had, however, an aversion to surgical operations, and had to leave the profession, turning instead to chemistry.

After studying at Durham and York in 1819 John Walker opened a chemists and druggists shop at 59 High Street, Stockton. His interests were wide - he was known as ‘Stockton’s encyclopaedia’, and he was particularly keen on chemistry.

The process of creating fire was slow and laborious.

He developed a keen interest in trying to find a means of obtaining fire easily. Several chemical mixtures were already known which would ignite by a sudden explosion, but it had not been found possible to transmit the flame to a slow-burning substance like wood. While Walker was preparing a lighting mixture on one occasion, a match which had been dipped in it took fire by an accidental friction upon the hearth. He at once appreciated the practical value of the discovery and started making friction matches.

Walker’s first friction matches were made of cardboard but he soon began to use wooden splints cut by hand. Later he packaged the matches in a cardboard box equipped with a piece of sandpaper for striking They consisted of wooden splints or sticks of cardboard coated with sulphur and tipped with a mixture of sulphide of antimony, chlorate of potash, and gum, the sulphur serving to communicate the flame to the wood.

Walker sold his first "Friction Light" on the 12th April 1827 from his pharmacy in Stockton on Tees. The price of a box of 50 matches was one shilling. With each box was supplied a piece of sandpaper, folded double, through which the match had to be drawn to ignite it. He named the matches “Congreves” in honour of the inventor and rocket pioneer, Sir William Congreve. He did not divulge the exact composition of his matches. His sales books contain an account of no fewer than 250 sales of friction matches.

Despite advice, from Michael Faraday amongst others, to patent his invention, Walker did not do so. He possibly did not do so because he was already happy with his standard of living.

As a result, others were able to exploit his invention commercially and even claim the credit for its discovery.

Walker died in Stockton on May 1, 1859 and is buried in the grounds of St Mary’s Church in Norton.

Walker was only credited with his

invention after his death.

 Named 'Congreves' in honour of

the inventor and rocket pioneer,

Sir William Congreve

 Samuel Jones of London produced an exact copy of Walkers “Friction Lights” and launched his own “Lucifers” in 1829.

For almost 40 years a bust has stood in Stockton-on-Tees in Country Durham commemorating match inventor John Walker.