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It is 1859 Drake had drilled the firstOil Well in the USA for the worlds first

Oil Company, The Pennsylvania Rock

Oil Company that triggered a rush for

the Black Gold across North West

America that in turn saw a phenomenal

growth of oil derricks spreading across

the region in search for the new rival to

Kerosene, Whale Oil and other oils

used for lighting at the time.

In England, Whale Oil was used for

lighting on a very wide scale before

petroleum spirit was eventually

discovered as it was found to be less

smoky and dirty once ignited and had a

better degree of light than Whale Oil.

Prior to this, in the 1850s Crude Oil was

used for lighting but it was regarded as

dangerous until Kerosene was

eventually produced as a by product of

Crude Oil. Kerosene was also being

produced from Shale.In London in 1859, an ageing

Chemist known as Eugene Carless

(Figure 1) was acquiring property in

White Post Lane in Hackney, London to

set up the firstmajor oil

refinery for

distillation and

d i s t r i b u t i o n

depot for

mineral oils in

the UK as the

demand for the

cheaper and

the more

r e l i a b l e

p e t r o l e u m

spirit grew

rapidly. He

su cce ss f u l l y

negotiated the

lease of a plot

of land that had

a barn from a

Pork Butcher

named StephenDawson at No.5

White Post

Lane. The total

cost was 65

p e r

year

a n d

it is

here he was to go on and

build the famous Hope

Chemical Works, the firstpurpose built Oil Refinery

and Distribution Depot.

Carless was an

outstanding chemist but a

poor salesman so he sought

those skills which initially

came in the form of William

George Blagdon and they

became Partners in the

business. Carless also had a

powerful friend in Sir

Thomas Boverton Redwood,

a Government Minister at the

time who was to have an

influence on the Companys

expansion plans some years later,

especially when the automobile as we

know it made its appearance.

(Redwood was also instrumental in

persuading Sir Winston Churchill to

change the Royal Navys use of coal to

oil in 1914).

By 1860, Towns Mains Gas was

being developed and was slowly being

introduced across London as an

illuminate and by 1865 there were some

13 Gas Companies in London alone

and the rival demand for petrol saw

imports coming into the UK from theUSA from the Anglo American Oil

Company who were using the docks in

the major cities of England by 1864. At

this time, oil was transported in wooden

History of Petrol Filling Stations Part 2

Some Pioneers of PetrolBy Brian Baker

Articles

Figure 1 Eugene Careless founder of Hope Chemical works

Figure 2

Figure 3

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