Charles Macintosh

1766 - 1843

Industrial chemist and entrepreneur. Macintosh was born and lived in Glasgow. He began by trading white lead, a constituent of paint, with the Netherlands. He went on to develop new dyeing and bleaching techniques and entered a partnership with Charles Tennant (1768 - 1838). However Macintosh is best remembered for developing the fabric which would be used in the rain-coat which bears his name.

While trying to find uses for the waste products generated by gasworks, Macintosh developed a process first discovered by surgeon James Syme (1799 - 1870). Naptha, which was extracted from coal-tar, was used as a solvent to adhere rubber coating to cloth. This gave Macintosh a fabric with excellent water-proof properties.

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