Elkington was born in
Birmingham, the son of a spectacle manufacturer. Apprenticed to his uncles' silver
plating business in 1815, he became, on their death, sole proprietor of the business, but subsequently took his cousin, Henry Elkington, into partnership. The science of electrometallurgy was then in its infancy, but the Elkingtons were quick to recognize its possibilities. They had already taken out certain
patents for the application of electricity to metals when, in 1840,
John Wright, a Birmingham
surgeon, discovered the valuable properties of a solution of cyanide of silver in
potassium cyanide for electroplating purposes. The Elkingtons purchased and patented Wright's process (British Patent 8447 : Improvements in Coating, Covering, or Plating certain Metals), subsequently acquiring the rights of other processes and improvements. The Elkingtons opened a new electroplating works in
Newhall Street, in the
Jewellery Quarter,
Birmingham in 1841, and the following year
Josiah Mason, a
pen manufacturer, joined the firm and encouraged the Elkingtons to diversify their output, adding more affordable electroplated
jewellery and
cutlery to the large pieces the company had been producing. Electroplated wares became very successful in the
Victorian market and by 1880 the company employed 1,000 people at the Newhall Street site and had a further six factories. The agreement between Elkington and Mason was dissolved on 31 December 1861, after which the company traded as Elkington and Co. There is a
Blue Plaque commemorating him on the old
Elkington Silver Electroplating Works, Newhall Street, Birmingham. ==Family==