The American John Wesley Hyatt later tries to claim the patent, after developing another process for celluloid, with camphor, in 1869.
The subsequent British Xylonite Company, formed in 1877, later becomes BX Plastics.
Sir William Henry Perkin FRS discovered the first synthetic dye mauveine in 1856, produced from aniline, having tried to synthesise quinine at his home on Cable Street in east London.
21% of the UK's chemical industry is in North West England, notably around Runcorn and Widnes.
Unilever Research & Development Port Sunlight Laboratory is in the north west.