Frederick Walton and the Invention of Linoleum

Frederick Walton caused a lot of financial family friction on the way to developing linoleum. And even though he believed he had revolutionized home dec, he didn't expect to be remembered.

Research:

• “4,000 for His ‘Devoted Attendant.’” Western Daily Press. August 3, 1928. https://www.newspapers.com/image/813758815/?match=1&terms=%22Frederick%20Walton%22
• Baker, Anne Pimlott. "Walton, Frederick Edward (bap. 1834, d. 1928), inventor of linoleum." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. September 23, 2004. Oxford University Press. Date of access 20 Jul. 2026, <https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-67799
• Kaldewei, Gerhard, ed. “Linoleum: History, Design, Architecture 1882-2000.” Hatje Cantz. 2000.
• “Cork Carpets.” The Chatauquan. Volume 21. 1895. https://books.google.com/books?id=a2cXAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA471#v=onepage&q&f=false
• Gross, Linda. “The Evolution of Linoleum.” Hagley Museum and Library. March 19, 2018. https://www.hagley.org/librarynews/evolution-linoleum#:~:text=In%201860%20Walton%20applied%20for,1864%2C%20in%20Staines%2C%20England.
• Hodgson, R.D. “Frederick Walton: Centenary of the Birth of the Inventor of Linoleum.” Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry. Vol. 53. Issue 10. March 1934. Pages 209-232. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jctb.5000531003
• “Inventor’s Will.” Daily Record. Aug. 3, 1928. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1041447745/?match=1&terms=%22Frederick%20Walton%22
• “Lincrusta History.” https://lincrusta.com/about-us/#history
• Parsons, Ralph. “Linoleum: A Chiswick Invention.” Brentford & Chiswick Local History Society. https://brentfordandchiswicklhs.org.uk/local-history/industries-and-crafts/linoleum-a-chiswick-invention/
• D.H. “CENTENARY OF FREDERICK WALTON, INVENTOR OF LINOLEUM.” Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, vol. 82, no. 4240, 1934, pp. 432–33. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41317315
• Simpson, Pamela H. “Comfortable, Durable, and Decorative: Linoleum’s Rise and Fall from Grace.” APT Bulletin: The Journal of Preservation Technology, vol. 30, no. 2/3, 1999, pp. 17–24. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1504636
• “Society of Arts.” The Morning Post. April 3, 1862. https://www.newspapers.com/image/396195800/?match=1&terms=Frederick%20Walton%20&search-id=58db9118-0a75-49e3-a4ae-68272c242a64&search-rank=1
• Walton, Frederick. “The infancy and development of linoleum floorcloth.” Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent. London. 1925.
• “Walton-Scruby.” The Morning Post. March 22, 1867. https://www.newspapers.com/image/396195945/?match=2&terms=frederick%20walton&search-id=ed4e6ef1-9806-4b3d-84bb-62b4e8e0efc6&search-rank=1

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