Background
William Willis, Jr. was born in 1841 in Kent, United Kingdom.
William Willis, Jr. was born in 1841 in Kent, United Kingdom.
The younger William Willis, Jr. worked as a practical engineer at Tangyes, Birmingham, and later joined the staff at Birmingham and Midland Bank.
William Willis, Jr. then went into business with his father, later founding the Platinotype Company, which first offered platinum papers for sale in 1880. He invented the platinotype, patented in England on June 5, 1873, and made several improvements on it during the following years. In 1878 he added lead salts to the iron platinum mixture; in 1880 he eliminated the lead salts from the sensitive layer and increased the content of the platinum salt.
William Willis, Jr. later worked out alternative processes, helping to circumvent the high cost of platinum: satista paper, a silver-platinum paper, and palladiotype paper, the substance of which was palladium.
