Elkington, George Richards (1801-1865)

English inventor who pioneered the use of electroplating for finishing metal objects. Elkington was born in Birmingham and in 1818 he became an apprentice in the local small-arms factory; in due course he became its proprietor. With his cousin Henry Elkington (1810-1852), he explored the alternatives to traditional methods of plating from about 1832. The process of plating base metals with silver and gold by electrodeposition was announced in a patent taken out by the Elkington cousins in 1840. In 1841 they established a workshop for electroplating in Birmingham, and successfully patented their ideas in France. George Elkington also established large copper-smelting works in South Wales, providing houses for his workers and schools for their children.