Dead Men’ or ‘White’s Canaries’ due to their bleached faces and yellow chrome dust-covered clothing. The pamphlets proved very popular and exposed the conditions at Whites works to the wider public. Another Glasgow tycoon of the day Thomas Lipton received similar treatment from Hardie in response to practices at his facilities. According to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: "There was no effective rebuttal of the charges and Overtoun stood accused of hypocrisy, not least because his passionate sabbatarianism did not extend to closing his chemical works on Sundays. While Overtoun was somewhat distanced from the daily running of the Rutherglen works, it was impossible for him to escape some of the odium for conditions in a third-generation family firm of which he was sole proprietor." Soon afterwards, improvements in the works were introduced, including baths and recreational facilities on-site, although the sanitary issues were addressed to a satisfactory standard only after a further damning report into Whites by the Medical Inspector of Factories Thomas Morison Legge. Twentieth century Despite the criticism of the situation at his chemical works, in 1905 Lord Overtoun was made a freeman of Rutherglen after he donated land to the town for a public park - this was named Overtoun Park. Lord Overtoun/John Campbell White III died in 1908, by which time the Shawfield works were the largest of their kind in the world. William Chrystal took full control of the firm until his own death in 1921. By the mid-1920s the works, now controlled by another cousin in the White family, Hill Hamilton Barrett (died 1934), employed around 900 and the site had expanded further, to 30 acres. In 1953 the firm merged with Eaglescliffe Chemical Company from County Durham and became British Chrome and Chemicals. In 1958 the company was renamed Associated Chemical Companies. It was bought over by Albright and Wilson in 1965 and the Shawfield works closed down; the chain of companies producing chemicals (although no longer at any locations in Scotland) continues with Elementis. Toxic legacy Although production of chemicals at Shawfield ceased in the 1960s, the impact on the Rutherglen area due to the activities of J & J White lasted for decades afterwards due to the presence of the carcinogenic by-product hexavalent chromium (Chromium VI) produced at the works. Its dangers were highlighted in the Hollywood movie Erin Brockovich. The 12-acre (7 ha) area set aside within the