Archibald Cochrane, 9th Earl of Dundonald

Archibald Cochrane, 9th Earl of Dundonald, FRSE (1 January 1748 – 1 July 1831) was a British military officer and inventor.

Cochrane's most noted invention was a method for making coal tar (patented in 1781) on an industrial scale.

[4] Cochrane hoped that he would be able to sell tar as a sealant for the hulls of ships to the Royal Navy.

Other experiments with alum production, making bread from potatoes, and paint manufacturing also proved unprofitable.

His experiments with producing soda from table salt proved more successful but were not enough to reverse his financial misfortunes.

In February 1791 Dundonald published details of his experiments in making bread using potatoes in a booklet made up of three letters.

By March 1791 he had also published a pamphlet on feeding the poor by adding starch and potato power to flour.

[8][9] A print by James Gillray from 1795 entitled "Substitutes for bread; or Right Honourables saving the Loaves and Dividing the Fishes" satirises the notion that potato is a delicious alternative for flour by showing a group of MPs avoiding potato bread and instead eating fish and sirloin steaks covered in coins.