Protecting wood and killing germs: 'Burnett's Liquid' and the origins of the preservative and disinfectant industries in early Victorian Britain

Discovering chemicals as disinfectants and for timber preservation offered profitable opportunities in the early nineteenth century. After 1839 Sir William Burnett promoted his pioneering patent for zinc chloride - attempting to persuade both fellow medical practitioners and the Admiralty of its widespread uses. Trials in the navy, among migrants to Canada in 1847-48, and during Britain's 1849 cholera epidemic were all intended to demonstrate the ability of his product to contain disease, while experiments with impregnated wood sought to secure markets in the shipbuilding and railway industries. Burnett achieved business success at some cost to his professional reputation. His liquid was gradually superseded by carbolic acid and a variety of proprietary brands after his death in 1861.