The Hancocks of Marlborough

John Loadman took his master's degree in organic chemistry from the University of Durham in 1987. He has since been an analytical chemist with the Natural Rubber Producers' Research Association, done conservation work with museums and art galleries on artworks containing rubber, and is an expert on early rubber manufacturing techniques and history of rubber development.Francis James was educated at Marsh Court Preparatory school and Kings College Taunton, and is a qualified teacher. After some years as an antiquarian bookseller, he moved on to historic building conservation. He has written several books including The EMG Story, and is now the leading authority on the English handmade gramophone. His hobby, like his life, is saving the past and recording it for the future.

A treasure house for anyone interested in inventors and how they managed their intellectual property prior to the reform and consolidation in 1852 of the UK's patent system.

• 1. Marlborough, Wiltshire - Roots ; 2. The Hancocks Gather in London ; 3. From Seawater to Steam ; 4. Life, Death, and Bankruptcy ; 5. The Family, the Law, and the End of a Dream ; 6. Life's Ups and Downs ; 7. A New Industry ; 8. Gutta Percha Comes to Town ; 9. The Great Hose Controversy ; 10. 'The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations ; 11. Back to the Courts ; 12. A Life of Ease ; 13. Death and Depositions ; 14. Marlborough Cottage and the Great Aunts ; 15. The Hancock Legacy ; 16. James Lyne Hancock & Co ; Epilogue: Thoughts on a Dynasty ; Appendix I: The fourteen patents of Thomas Hancock 'for the treatment and application of INDIA RUBBER' ; Appendix II: Mechanical Applications of Vulcanized India Rubber as described by Thomas Hancock ; Appendix III: Technical Development of the Rubber Industry 1850-1950