Willson, Thomas Leopold 'Carbide' National Historic Person

Ottawa, Ontario
Image showing detail of HSMBC plaque on Victoria Island © Parks Canada / Parcs Canada, 1988
Image showing detail of HSMBC plaque
© Parks Canada / Parcs Canada, 1988
Thomas 'Carbide' Willson (1860-1915) © National Archives of Canada / C-53499View of the location of the HSMBC plaque on Victoria Island in the Ottawa River © Parks Canada / Parcs Canada, 1988Image showing detail of HSMBC plaque on Victoria Island © Parks Canada / Parcs Canada, 1988
Address : Middle Street at Portage Bridge, Ottawa, Ontario

Recognition Statute: Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date: 1972-10-19
Life Date: 1860 to 1915

Other Name(s):
  • Willson, Thomas Leopold 'Carbide'  (Designation Name)

Importance: Inventor, commercialized the production of acetylene gas (1892)

Plaque(s)


No plaque in place, recommended location: Old Willson Carbide Mill, Victoria Island Middle Street at Portage Bridge, Ottawa, Ontario

Born in Oxford County, Upper Canada, and largely self-educated, Wilson became a noted inventor in fields ranging from the generation of electricity, through electro-chemistry and metallurgy, to production of fertilizers. His international reputation and considerable fortune derived from the discovery, in 1892, of a method to mass produce calcium carbide as was done in this building. Acetylene, generated by his compound, was used both as an illuminant and a source for other industrial hydrocarbons. Wilson's discovery thus laid a basis for much of the early twentieth century's chemical industry.

Approved Inscription:  

Largely self-educated, Willson became a noted inventor in fields ranging from the generation of electricity to electro-chemistry, metallurgy, and the production of fertilizers. His international reputation and considerable fortune derived from the discovery, in 1892, of a method of mass-producing calcium carbide, as was done in this purpose-built mill. Acetylene gas, which was produced from this compound, was used both as an illuminant and a source for other industrial hydrocarbons. Willson's discovery helped lay the foundation for the development of the electrochemical industry in the early twentieth century.