PARKES

Alexander (son of a bra lock manufacturer). b. Suffolk st. Birmingham 29 Dec. 1813; in charge of the casting department in the works of Me rs. Elkington; took out a patent for the electro-deposition of works of art 1841; patented a method of electro-plating flowers 1843; took out 66 patents in 46 years; superintended the erection of Elkington and Mason’s copper-smelting works at Pembrey, South Wales 1850–3; his method of using zinc for the desilverisation of lead, patented 1850, is in universal use in America; showed articles made from the compound of pyroxyline, named Parkesine, at exhibition of 1862, when he received a medal, this compound is now known as zylonite or celluloid. d. Rosendale road, West Dulwich 29 June 1890. Engineering 25 July 1890 p. 111; Birmingham Weekly Post 5 July 1890 .