Chemical notebooks, 1869-87

Component identifier:

Series 1

Content Summary:

Blogg's career as a chemist began in 1869 as a junior partner in his uncle's Toronto pharmacy. In Melbourne in 1884 he established a successful manufacturing enterprise, initially known as J.K. Blogg and Company, which prospered and became well known for its products such as 'Ontario' laundry blue, 'Argus' worcestershire sauce, 'Sunshine' shoe blacking and 'Snow White' baking powder. The firm, which operated under a succession of names, also pioneered the extraction of perfume from Australian native trees and plants, and exported large amounts of wattle blossom and boronia extracts to London. Trading as Blogg Bros., the company held the appointment of official perfumer to the Governor of Victoria, Lord Brassey, between 1895 and 1900.

This series comprises two notebooks kept by Blogg in his work as a manufacturing chemist, containing handwritten entries and pasted extracts from newspapers. The first, begun in Toronto in 1869, records methods for experiments and gives recipes for a range of chemical products such as boot and furniture polish, perfumes, parchment and cleaning fluids. The second volume opens in 1887, and lists ingredients and processes for the manufacture of soaps, inks, sauces, glues and other commercial lines.

Other papers relating to the operations of Blogg's chemical companies are filed in Series 2.

Immediate source of acquisition:

The papers of the industrial chemist, woodcarver and poet John Kendrick Blogg (1851-1936) were donated to the National Library by his grandson, Hugh Stevenson, in 1996.

Names:

John Kendrick Blogg

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